News

China holds Australian journalist on unsubsantiated charges

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Enter China at your own risk.

The Chinese government is holding Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist, on charges of “illegally supplying state secrets overseas.” According to the BBC report, China is subjecting her to a “closed-door trial” and the specific nature of her offenses is unknown. The Australian ambassador has said, “This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and regrettable. We can have no confidence in the validity of the process which is conducted in secret.”

To be sure, China isn’t the only country that ignores basic principles of justice when it raises the “state secrets” excuse. The United States’ treatment of Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange has been abominable. But in China, it’s much more the norm. If its government especially dislikes someone who comes to the Chengdu Worldcon in 2023, it may be a long time before they come back.

The cries that boycotting the Chengdu Worldcon is “racist” are getting thinner. Pretty much everyone who thinks about the matter realizes how dishonest it is to accuse supporters of the Uyghurs, Falun Gong, and Hong Kong residents of racism.

An article by Sarah Mughal Rana on the Chengdu convention raises some good points.
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Spells of War: Coming April 5!

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Spells of War cover
On Tuesday, April 5, barring unexpected events, Spells of War will be available on Smashwords and Kindle! Since the events of The Magic Battery, Thomas Lorenz has enjoyed success and happiness in Heidelberg, but now the Turks have acquired his secret of creating magical devices and are using it to create weapons of war. While he is off in Vienna aiding his Emperor’s cause, Frieda makes an important discovery about magic. The future of Europe and magic are at stake.

A short-lived discount code will be available when the book comes out, so be sure to check back then. Meanwhile, be sure to bookmark https://garymcgath.com/SOW. Please tell your friends, so they can get the book too. That’s what the sharing buttons are for.

Sergey Lukianenko and the Chengdu Worldcon

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One of the guests at the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention, Sergey Lukianenko, has attracted negative attention for his public support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is echoing the Putin line, smearing Ukrainians as “Nazis.” There have been calls to rescind his invitation.

From what I can tell, Lukianenko is a despicable person. His activity goes far beyond Cixin Liu’s excuses for China’s treatment of the Uyghurs. Cixin was just answering a question; Lukianenko is actively praising Putin’s brutal actions.

However, I don’t like the idea of withdrawing speakers’ invitations when their views are unpopular. I’d rather view his presence on the guest list as a symptom, a concrete example of what holding a Worldcon in China means. At a convention in any semi-free country, it would be great fun to have him speak before an audience and face merciless question after question about the invasion of Ukraine. I absolutely wouldn’t want him shouted down; that’s a confession of fear that people will hear what the speaker has to say. But having him face a fannish inquisition in the Q&A — I relish the thought.
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Authors condemn China as host of Worldcon

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Over 80 speculative fiction authors have signed an open letter opposing China’s hosting of the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention in Chengdu. Prominent authors include Angie Thomas, N.K. Jemisin, G. Willow Wilson, S.A. Chakraborty, Zoraida Córdova, Tochi Onyebuchi, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Jeannette Ng, Tracy Deonn, Roseanne Brown, Usman T. Malik, and Tahir Hamut Izgil. The letter was spearheaded by Muslim writers concerned about the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs. Sarah Mughal Rana, one of the people who created the letter, is quoted as saying, “At the very least, I hope for a boycott and for people to be educated on these matters so they do not gaslight and shutdown Muslim voices again. The last discussion about Chengdu’s bid, Muslims were gaslit and accused of being racist, and Western-centric.”

To gaslight is to manipulate people to make them doubt their sanity. I don’t know what the gaslighting consists of, but I’ve discussed the bogus accusations of racism in previous posts.

Emerson College: Criticizing China’s totalitarian regime is “hate”

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This is a writing blog, not a blog on the China Worldcon, but I’ve been getting a bump in readership from the Worldcon articles, I’ve been talking about intimidation of China critics with vague claims of “racism,” and I just came upon a new outrage. Emerson College is apparently in the pocket of the Chinese government. It derecognized a chapter of Turning Point USA, a student organization. The organization had distributed stickers with the text “China kinda … sus.” That’s gamer slang for “suspicious.”

Emerson president William Gilligan, who seems like a typical academic tinpot dictator, has smeared the Turning Point chapter with a claim of “anti-China hate.” “Hate” is a wonderfully flexible word; in this case, it means criticism of an authoritarian state. If Gilligan is consistent (which I don’t expect he is), then he ought to regard kneeling during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as “anti-America hate.” Or maybe he just likes concentration camps.
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Update on Uncle Hugo’s

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File 770 has an update on the effort to bring back Uncle Hugo’s. The bookstore was destroyed by a fire set by an unknown arsonist during last year’s Minneapolis riots. The article says, “Last month [Don Blyly] found three prospective buildings to consider – one would be satisfactory if he can get it for the right price.”

The fundraiser has raised nearly $200,000 and is still active.

China buys 2023 Worldcon 1

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The 2023 World Science Fiction Convention will be in China, a country notorious for suppressing dissent, persecuting minorities, restricting communication, and monitoring its citizens. Worldcon sites are selected among bidders by members of an earlier Worldcon, as just happened at Discon. It appears that the selection was the result of a large number of votes sent in from China from people who purchased supporting memberships. In other words, China bought the Worldcon.

Science fiction is the realm of speculation, exploration of ideas, and examination of alternatives. The idea of a Worldcon in such a repressive nation is absurd. Hopefully few fans in free countries will have any interest in this charade, and they’ll sit it out.
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Writers threatened with $300K fines

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According to an article by Natylie Baldwin on antiwar.com, the United States Treasury Department has threatened writers with fines of more than $300,000 if they write for the Strategic Culture Foundation, a Russia-based online journal.

The writers, Daniel Lazare and Michael Averko, reportedly got letters from the Treasury Department, delivered by the FBI, claiming they were in violation of sanctions against SCF and could be subject to a “civil monetary penalty of up to the greater of $311,562 or twice the value of the underlying transaction.” They say that other writers have received similar letters.
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This entry was posted in News and tagged books bookstores science fiction on by | Open »

There’s a new update on GoFundMe on Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore. As you may recall, it was destroyed by arson during the Minneapolis protests, most likely by someone taking advantage of the confusion rather than a legitimate protester. But they’re still working on finding a suitable location for a new store. In the meantime, you can buy books from the website.

They’re really going for the long haul. As I’m writing this, Uncle Hugo’s has an event scheduled for July 31, 21021.

I have no association with the store. I’m just a fan supporting other fans.