Chinese stores have pulled copies of a prominent academic’s new book about the “dream” of constitutional democracy, just days before China celebrates its second annual Constitution Day.
Qin Hui, a historian at Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University, told the Financial Times that his book Zouchu Dizhi (Moving Away from the Imperial Regime), had been “banned”. “It’s like they want to kill someone and won’t even let him complain about it,” he added. “I can’t talk about this matter.”
Staff at the official Xinhua news agency’s flagship bookstore in downtown Beijing said Prof Qin’s book, which traces the political transition from the late Qing dynasty to Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist regime, was “out of stock” — as did online retailers. An employee at the book’s publisher, who asked not to be named, added that the volume had “quality problems”.