Outspoken writer released after turning himself in over Tiananmen anniversary event
Novelist was in Australia when a private gathering in Beijing to mark the crackdown took place, but he wrote a statement of surrender for planning to attend
The novelist Murong Xuecun was questioned and later released by the police after he admitted he was involved in a private gathering to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square.
Several rights activists were detained after attending the event in May, including the civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang.
Murong Xuecun, whose real name is Hao Qun, was unable to go to the gathering as he was attending an event at the University of Sydney in Australia, but he released a public statement on Saturday saying one of his essays on the crackdown was submitted to the meeting and he wanted to show his support for those detained.
"I oppose their detention. I have done the same thing as them and should not enjoy any sort of exemption," he said in the statement, which was circulated on social media over the weekend.
"I will stay at home for the next 24 hours waiting for arrest, but please call me to make an appointment if you fail to make it in the next 24 hours," he said.
Hao also wrote in a column in The New York Times in May about the speech he sent to the gathering.