UK Publishers Censor Books Intended for Western Readers to Appease China
Publishers have removed references to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet.
The Financial Times recently reported that two British publishers – Octopus Books (Hachette) and Quarto – have removed references to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other subjects banned by Chinese authorities from books.
From FT:
The revelations follow a string of censorship controversies in the publishing sector. In 2017, academic publishers Springer Nature and Cambridge University Press were criticised after it emerged they had each blocked hundreds of articles from being accessed in China.
But evidence obtained by the Financial Times gives the first indication that books sold in the west are also being amended to appease Beijing.
Since 2020 Octopus, a self-described “leading publisher of non-fiction”, has removed references in at least two books to Taiwan, a democratic nation that China claims as its territory. In one case, an entire section relating to Taiwan was cut.
Over the same period Quarto, a picture book publisher that in 2020 released the New York Times bestseller This Book is Anti-Racist, erased mentions of Hong Kong and dissident artist Ai Weiwei from separate publications.
The nationality of people mentioned in one book was also changed from Taiwanese to East Asian, while references to Tibet, a region annexed by China in 1951, were revised in two books to suggest it was Chinese territory.
Both Octopus and Quarto have censored books after suppliers in China, which face legal restrictions on what they can print, said they were unable to publish the original text. The people familiar with the changes did not want to publicise the names of books affected as this could risk anonymity, but the FT has seen documents confirming the edits were made.
It's not just these two publishers that are feeling the pressure:
Publishers across the industry told the FT that printing in China, where production fees are lower than elsewhere, has grown increasingly difficult.
Last year US printing company RR Donnelley & Sons distributed a memo seen by the FT, saying that its Chinese printers were unable to produce books mentioning human rights abuses in Xinjiang and suggestions that Covid-19 originated in China.
These incidents are particularly troubling, especially considering the current “awakening” happening among publishers on other issues. We will see if any publishers stand for freedom of expression or continue to succumb to China’s political and financial pressures.