BERLIN (AFP) - Chinese dissident author Liao Yiwu on Sunday tore into the leadership in Beijing, describing his homeland as an "inhuman empire with bloody hands" as he scooped a prestigious German book prize.
The author, also known as Lao Wei, added that the Chinese state was a "massive scrap heap that must break apart", accusing the West of "colluding with the executioners under the cover of free trade".
Mr Liao was speaking as he collected the German Book Trade Peace Prize, the country's second-highest award after the Georg Buechner Prize, and its endowment of 25,000 euros (S$40,000) at a ceremony attended by German President Joachim Gauck.
Mr Liao spent four years in jail after writing the poem Massacre about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. He moved to Germany after successfully defying a travel ban by walking to Vietnam.
The author, also known as Lao Wei, added that the Chinese state was a "massive scrap heap that must break apart", accusing the West of "colluding with the executioners under the cover of free trade".
Mr Liao was speaking as he collected the German Book Trade Peace Prize, the country's second-highest award after the Georg Buechner Prize, and its endowment of 25,000 euros (S$40,000) at a ceremony attended by German President Joachim Gauck.
Mr Liao spent four years in jail after writing the poem Massacre about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. He moved to Germany after successfully defying a travel ban by walking to Vietnam.
