Chinese Author Yang Jisheng had hoped to travel to Harvard University to collect the award for his 2008 book 'Tombstone.' (Photo : YouTube/Teuta Mema)
Chinese author Yang Jisheng, 77, has been prevented from traveling to the United Sates. He is being bestowed with an award by Harvard University.
The former journalist of the Xinhua news agency is being awarded the Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. The award is for his account of the tremendous human toll experienced between 1958 and 1961 during China's "Great Famine."
The author put his findings together in the form of a book called "Tombstone." In the book, Yang estimates the loss of life at the time to be more than 30 million Chinese citizens. The Chinese government has remained hesitant to revisit the era headed by Mao Zedong, during whose rule the famine took place, Fox News reported.
As a reporter for the national news agency, Yang was permitted to access rare and restricted government documents stored in the country's archives. To date, the author, owing to his published work, has been banned from Mainland China.
Yang who spoke to the American news channel said, Xinhua informed him that he was forbidden to travel outside the country. He said he was not sure by what means he would be prevented from traveling, or if his passport had been impounded by authorities.
According to Chinese society, those who retire from organizations are dependent on former places of work for pensions. Especially benefits given by firms during retirement.
Yang, who was a member of the Communist Party, secured a job at the Xinhua news agency after graduating from the Tsinghua University in Beijing. He worked there until his retirement in 2001.
In November 2015, Yang left the country to accept the Stieg Larsson Prize in Stockholm. He said that at the time, he did not inform Chinese authorities of his movements; however, this time, he said, "I gave them (Chinese authorities) a heads up, that's why I can't leave." Yang said he was forbidden by authorities to even speak to foreign media.
In response to a comment on the issue requested by the Guardian, a spokesperson from Xinhua news agency responded. The publication quoted the spokesperson as saying, "We never heard Mr. Yang received an award, so we are not able to give you any response."
Yang was born in the province of Hubei in 1940, nine years before Chairman Mao's Communist Party took over the government.
The author discusses his work in the clip below :
