Ma Jian, whose new novel “China Dream” is a satire of totalitarianism, accused the venue of “turning a literary festival into a political matter.”
HONG KONG — A cultural venue run by a nonprofit organization with close ties to the Hong Kong government has abruptly canceled plans to host two events featuring an exiled Chinese writer, in what some saw as the latest sign of eroding freedoms in the city.
The cancellation came just days before the writer, Ma Jian, was scheduled to speak at the Tai Kwun Center for Heritage and Arts as part of the annual Hong Kong International Literary Festival. It left festival organizers scrambling to find a new venue for the Saturday events.
“We do not want Tai Kwun to become a platform to promote the political interests of any individual,” Timothy Calnin, director of Tai Kwun, said in a statement sent to reporters on Thursday. “We have therefore worked closely with the Hong Kong International Literary Festival to find a more suitable alternative venue.”
Mr. Ma, 65, who is currently based in London, was scheduled to speak at a panel discussion on Hong Kong literature as well as give a talk about his new novel, “ China Dream.” Published in Britain last week, the book, whose title refers to the signature propaganda catchphrase of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, was described by the publisher as a “biting satire of totalitarianism that reveals what happens to a nation when it is blinded by materialism and governed by violence and lies.”
While Tai Kwun, which is financed and operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, did not make specific reference to Mr. Ma in its statement, the venue’s decision to pull out of the events came after the author wrote in a Twitter post last week that publishers in Hong Kong had declined to publish “China Dream” — “the first time that’s happened to one of my books.”
Speaking by telephone from London, several hours before his flight to Hong Kong, the writer accused Mr. Calnin of “turning a literary festival into a political matter.”
“He hasn’t even read the book yet and he has already passed a political judgment,” said Mr. Ma.
Mr. Ma’s books have been banned in mainland China ever since his first novella, “Stick Out Your Tongue,” a collection of short stories about the Han Chinese occupation of Tibet, was published in 1987.
