Airtimes:
Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei
Wednesday, June 2 at 2030
Thursday, June 3 at 1130
Saturday, June 5 at 1900
Sunday, June 6 at 0330 & 1630
Monday, June 7 at 0900 Bangkok and Jakarta
Wednesday, June 2 at 1930
Thursday, June 3 at 1030
Saturday, June 5 at 1800
Sunday, June 6 at 0230 & 1530
Monday, June 7 at 0800 Chinese blogger Han Han is widely considered the voice of China's post-80s generation. Known for his satirical humour and edgy writing style, Han Han's blog is followed by over 300 million people around the world. He recently beat Chinese business leaders and government officials to be nominated one of Time Magazine's "100 world's most influential people". Han Han joins the network for this week's Talk Asia in a candid and wide-ranging interview as host Anjali Rao taps into some of China's most sensitive topics, including freedom of speech and online censorship. Han Han is fully aware that by writing his blog he's walking a thin line: "I must be really cautious, because we don't have any laws outlining what type of writing is safe and what type of writing is dangerous. Even though the Chinese government has improved on the freedom of speech front in recent years, writing is still rather dangerous." He also comments on the recent arrest of dissident author Liu Xiaobo: "Of course I hope Liu Xiaobo and others who are in trouble because of their writings or speech or because they've done what the government doesn't approve of, won't stay in jail. But if one day this person is me, I can't do anything about it because I have no control over it. I'm not asking or requesting much - I just hope that all the people in arts, all the literati, painters and directors can work in an unregulated and uncensored environment." Despite having the world's largest number of internet users, China also has arguably the most stringent cyber-censorship in the world. Han Han says the internet is monitored this way because Beijing is worried about a free flow of information: "They don't want people discussing events - they simply pretend nothing happened. That's their end goal." The 27-year-old is also a champion race car driver, a best-selling author and a singer and his success comes despite dropping out of high school. He explains to Anjali why he considers that a good move: "After leaving high school, I spent one year cleaning up all the bad influences on me from a foolish education...But what we need is true education; teaching you how to be a human being...rather than teaching you how to be loyal to your government and how your government is never wrong." Han's interview with TALK ASIA will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia after the first airing. For more information, please visit www.CNNPressroomAsia.com. Airtimes are subject to change
- END - Related links:
Talk Asia official site
Talk Asia Facebook page |
