To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons. – Ma Jian
My hope is that the Chinese government will come to realise that it is futile to repress free speech, and that contrary to what they believe a regimes strength rests not its suppression of a plurality of opinions and ideas, but in its capacity and willingness to encourage them. – Ma Jian
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