Liu Di
Liu Di studied Psychology at Beijing Normal University and while still a student became famous for blogging with tart wit on politically sensitive themes such as the restraint of online speech. In 2002 she was arrested and detained for more than a year, though never formally charged. Ten years ago, Philip P. Pan wrote what is still the best profile of her in English. After her release she resumed writing and was one of the early signers of Charter '08.
On May 3, 2014, she attended a private seminar on the events that shook Beijing in the spring of 1989. Three days later, like several other participants in the seminar, she was taken into custody and subjected to lengthy interrogations. It is reported that she has refused to confess to any crime but is likely to be charged with one.
[UPDATE: On June 5, 2014, Liu Di was freed on bail.]
Ragged Banner Press is pleased to publish translations of three short pieces she wrote for the Mandarin service of Radio Free Asia. The one about June 4 was filed the day of the fateful seminar and offers an insight into the feelings and values whose expression has made her a criminal in the eyes of the Party.
The Memory of June 4 (2014)On Hope (2012)
How to Understand the CCP (2010)