I read three stories about a Chinese dissident, Yu Jie, who has written 30 books about subjects that are sensitive in China and can lead to bad things happening to the author. [ see http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/07/14/china-fault-lines-yu-jie-liu-xiaobo/ , http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/13c6fcb2-7285-11e1-9be9-00144feab49a.html#axzz4ElTUCvFJ & http://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-chinese-christianity-1468797772 ]
His first indication of that came when publishers decided not to publish his books. They are probably all on that list of banned books that were being sold by Hong Kong book distributors. The Chinese arrested them too. Yu Jie is a converted Christian in a land of atheists, who predicts by 2030 that there will be more Christians in China than in the US. That would not be something the central government would want to hear, but his writings have had a lot more to say about things that far exceed that in sensitivity.
He has since moved to the US after writing about Wen Jiabao, a former Premier and some interesting people like Bo XiLai, who had the misfortune of being married to a murder who tried to cover up her crime. What these two had in common were the similarities between the revival of some of Mao's more interesting social upheavals by Bo, and Wen's criticism of them. They demonstrate one thing clearly - those who criticize in China had better be right. Bo Xilai who was moving up fast in the political structure, is now no longer part of it. Wen, who tried to peacefully stop the demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, still went on to be Premier.
These are the kind of topics that can get a writer in China in hot water. Yu Jie was warned about publishing further books. He took those warning seriously and left the country. Before you think of him as a coward for leaving, remember he wrote 30 books and lived in China all that time. He signed the Charter 08, a human rights declaration that was not received well in the central government. He had to know that was not going to go over very well and would have consequences. How a person can live and work in that environment for so many years is beyond me. It takes bravery of a type that is hard to define.
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