Writer’s residency in China raises questions

I understand that The Munster Literature Centre in Cork, as part of a Cork-Shanghai twinning project, are advertising a writer’s residency at Shanghai for a Cork writer.

This carries the condition that “Since the successful candidate will be a guest of the Chinese government she/he must agree to respect local customs and sensitivities.”

Now it would take a considerable amount of space to outline China’s lamentable human rights record, and it seems clear to me that ‘sensitivities’ suggests this: the Irish candidate for the residency is in fact agreeing to be muzzled before he even steps onto the plane. How will he interact with a Chinese writer if he has his mouth shut?

So long as no reference is ever made of — for instance — China’s policy towards Tibet, violence against female children (including infanticide) arising from China’s ‘single child’ programme or, for the historically-minded, events at Tiananmen Square, no doubt an Irish writer could have a nice time touring China. How many Chinese “sensitivities” must an Irish writer take into account before he or she finds it impossible to write a word? How blind will we allow ourselves to become for the sake of a post abroad?

Fred Johnston

Circular Road

Galway