Hong Kong’s PRC-backed Wen Wei Po reported today that CPPCC representative Yu Quanyu (喻权域), an outspoken Chinese leftist and opponent of press freedom in China, plans to propose the drafting of a law against seditious speech (惩治汉奸言论法) at the National People’s Congress, which is presently in session. [Coverage at Tom.com].
In the 1980s, Yu Quanyu (now an executive committee member at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a CPPCC representative) was an outspoken opponent of efforts by Hu Jiwei, Sun Xupei and others to create a press law protecting freedom of speech in China. He is also known as the author of the forward to the highly nationalistic 1996 bestseller China Can Say No.
According to the Wen Wei Po report, Yu Quanyu said some scholars had “twisted historical facts” in the name of academic research, particularly important historical events such as the Japanese invasion of China. China, Yu Quanyu reportedly said, should establish a law to deal specifically with such situations, seeking to “force those scholars and media” who have “reversed the verdict” on important historical incidents to “face responsibility and punishment in accordance with the law”.
[Posted by David Bandurski, March 5, 2007, 5:37pm]