Opinion | Liberal writer Li Chengpeng on the parallels of football and politics in China
'A game's result, everyone knows it already,' says intellectual
When Li Chengpeng left Chengdu for Hong Kong, a policeman stopped him at the airport. The author expected red tape or harassment, but the policeman was just another fan. He had read Li's books, he said.
The writer, born in the third year of the Cultural Revolution, has become a celebrity gongzhi, or public intellectual, in a very different time. Li's presence is online and the influence of his blog posts reflect the sheer size of the political debate that is taking place online in China.
"I am a patriot, and I love this country, but I have to remind myself not to become a nationalist," he said at the talk. "Football has international rules and no national characteristics, like wearing special shoes. It's not that Chinese players wear fake shoes."
"I have discovered that China's football and China's current society are similar," he said. "A game's result, everyone knows it already. Who is going to appear in the next season, we already know. Who is the enemy, we know that, too."