'Wild Swans' author Jung Chang lauds Hong Kong's freedom

Hong Kong has the freedom to accommodate new perspectives in a way no other place in China can, asserts internationally acclaimed biographer Jung Chang.

And the author of the autobiographic Wild Swans believes in providing those new perspectives. "I wouldn't dream of writing something that is not controversial," she said, prior to her first appearance at the Hong Kong Book Fair today.

"I want to discover new things and look at things from a new angle, using historical documents."

Chang's second book, Mao: The Unknown Story, was based on new, declassified Russian archival materials concerning Mao Zedong . It was co-authored by her husband Jon Halliday, an historian specialising in Russia. "It was a riveting experience for both of us as we discovered so many new things about Mao over a period of 12 years," the 61-year old London-based author said.

She admitted their findings upset some people, including academics, but added: "I dare say none has pointed out any factual error in our book since it was published in 2005."

"After Wild Swans, Mao obviously became my next subject because he dominated my early life and I had many unanswered questions about him," she said. "As it turned out, Mao was a bad man but a good subject."

In much the same way, Mao inspired Chang to write her next book, the biography of Cixi, the Empress Dowager of the late Qing Dynasty.