the black China hand

Coz the boyz in the hood are always hard
you come talkin’ that trash, we’ll pull ya card.

~NWA

“You can be the government of China’s friend or our enemy; there is no other way.”
This chilling message – and it is a direct quote – was delivered to me in Beijing this summer by an apparently high-ranking Chinese security official who would tell me only his surname: Song. He was, he said, “in charge of watching terrorism and NGOs,” and he was offering me a real, not theoretical, choice. I could become an elite propagandist for China, or I would have to leave the country, where I had lived continuously for 12 years, and would never be allowed back. On Sept. 26, after spending several weeks in Europe, I returned to Beijing and found that Mr. Song had spoken in earnest. Immigration authorities barred my entry, put me back on the plane to Helsinki, Finland, and canceled my multi-entry visa.

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