Former premier Li Peng's controversial diary of the June 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, the publication in Hong Kong of which was cancelled at the last minute, has hit the shelves of bookshops in Los Angeles.
Zheng Cunzhu, a student leader during the 1989 pro-democracy movement who now lives in the United States, said he had funded the publication but had not been approached about any copyright problems - which a Hong Kong publisher cited as the reason for calling off the diary's publication this week.
'So far, neither Li Peng himself nor his lawyers have raised questions on the copyright issue,' Zheng said. 'If he admits he owns the copyright of the diary and files a lawsuit, my publishing house is willing to take full legal responsibility.
'And if Li does raise any copyright complaint, then it proves that this diary was really written by him. That's not a bad thing.'
Zheng, who emigrated to Los Angeles in 2006, said he registered his West Point Publishing House soon after he downloaded a copy from a link referred to him by a mainland contact on June 5.
'I got a link to download the diary and I printed it out right away, because I knew the link would be erased sooner or later,' Zheng said.