Organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair worked for 15 years to secure China as the guest of honor at their five-day showcase of global trends and best sellers. Yet even before the event opens to industry delegates Wednesday, the guests have proven awkward. Organizers are steeling themselves for lively discussions and the possibility of protests at the fair, which boasts some 6,900 exhibitors from more than 100 countries. In September, members of the Chinese delegation walked out of a pre-book fair symposium after two authors they had insisted not attend showed up anyway. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised to take up the issue of censorship with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, with whom she officially inaugurates the fair later Tuesday. "I will make it clear in my talks with those responsible in China that freedom of opinion is not a threat, but a chance," Merkel said in her weekly video podcast. The 61-year-old book fair remains the leading trading point for licensing everything from films to video games. It also is increasingly a place to showcase upcoming trends in electronic publishing and other new media forms _ books for mobile phones are among one of the strongest emerging trends. Yet China's appearance this year is expected to generate the most buzz, given censorship in China. The September spat erupted when dissident writers Dai Qing and Bei Ling attended the symposium, despite a Chinese attempt to block them. "I hope that this can be a beginning of a cultural dialogue," book fair director Juergen Boos recently told reporters. "Especially for Germans, this is important. We have seen the impact of discussion; that when you speak with one another, you can tear down walls." Some 500 events will feature themes surrounding China, roughly half of them sponsored by the Chinese culture ministry and the other half by the book fair organizers _ an attempt to include critical voices as well as those backed by the Chinese government. "This is not the Olympics," Boos said, in reference to last year's highly controlled event in Beijing. "It cannot be controlled." Continued... |