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.
This wouldn’t be possible in China. Olympic athletes were repeatedly warned it would be dangerous to speak out on human rights. Anyone speaking out on controversial issues of international politics would do so at great risk.
The concom may have chosen Lukianenko as a guest because it won them badly needed social credit points with their government. Chinese-Russian relations are complicated, but the countries have been mostly on good terms in recent years. China hasn’t condemned the invasion. A Russian guest may raise fewer official eyebrows than one from the USA or the EU.
The focus of any concerns should remain on the idea of a convention where no free speech is possible. A Worldcon in China is simply incompatible with the spirit of openness and controversy which is supposed to be a hallmark of fandom.
Lately I’ve heard from a couple of fans on Usenet whose attitude is, “We’ll go there and tell the Chinese what’s really happening in the world. We’re Americans, so we’ll be safe!” That would be admirable if it weren’t so dumb. I hope they’ll think more carefully before buying a ticket and putting the Declaration of Independence in their luggage. The benefits aren’t worth the risks.
The focus should stay on skipping over the 2023 Worldcon, hopefully with an excellent NASFIC to help cover the gap. There’s no way to fix the convention at this point.