The arrest of poet Huang Beiling in Beijing on Aug. 12 was reported by his brother Huang Feng, an independent publisher, who was himself arrested a week later. Going after writers and publishers with "political problems" is not a new sport in China, but an unfair one. Civil society has not yet produced non-state actors strong enough to stand up and cry "foul." Given the enormous strides China has made in publishing, from the newsstand to the Internet, locking up poets and publishers is a giant leap backward.
The so-called political problem of QINGXIANG, the impounded literary magazine, touches on a historical event called 6-4 or the Tiananmen Massacre. Young kids in China can say without irony that June 4, 1989, is ancient history to them, but it's obvious that the event continues to haunt their elders.
Given all the problems China faces today, 11 years later, it is surprising the police apparatus still has the time and motivation to ruthlessly pursue minor references to the abortive popular uprising. QINGXIANG's problem is reportedly a photograph of Tiananmen activist Wang Dan, now at Harvard, and a poem by Tiananmen era political prisoner Liu Xiaobo, who is an old friend of the editor.