EXCLUSIVE: Dissident Chinese journalist works on her next book from exile in Thailand

Read this interview in Mandarin.

At the far end of a quiet garden courtyard in Chiang Mai, home to a small “village” of exiled Chinese writers and intellectuals, is a communal study room with books lining the walls.

Veteran investigative journalist Dai Qing, 83, once one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most influential critics, is often there, reading and writing as she enjoys a quiet life of contemplation in Thailand — as well as working on her forthcoming book, “Notes on History.”

Dai, a former reporter for the party’s Guangming Daily, was an early and prominent critic of China’s flagship Three Gorges Dam project, publishing a book Yangtze! Yangtze! arguing against the move.

She also served time in Beijing’s notorious Qincheng Prison for supporting the students during the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

Now part of a community of exiled Chinese writers and researchers in the northern Thai resort town, Dai spoke to RFA Mandarin — after her daily swim — about what led her there:

RFA: Why Chiang Mai?

Dai Qing: I should say that Chiang Mai wasn’t actually my choice. I’ve always lived in big cities, ever since I was a child. When they asked me where I was from, I said I was Chinese. For example, I was born in the wartime capital Chongqing, and later I worked in a Beijing high school. I have always been in big cities. I really don’t like big cities, I don’t like the bustle and prosperity — I like the quiet: trees and grass, blue sky and white clouds.

When we set up this courtyard, it was as a small community of friends. We all shared the same values ​​and common hobbies, like reading. We set up a research center and invited people from foreign universities with an interest in China to come. We have so many people here who can talk to them, share our experiences, and they can stay here too.

RFA: How many homes are here?

Dai Qing: Today, there are 31 houses that were designed by [independent writer] Ye Fu. Many of the people here are his friends, and they just sort of came here. It costs less than one-fifth of the price of a place in Beijing, right? But they don’t all live here. Some are rented out. Who do they rent to? That’s another question. People who are dissatisfied with the Chinese education system, who want to bring their children here to study and enroll in the British education system. We rent houses to them. There are several families like that. You can see that the most lively ones are full of kids.

RFA: Did they come before or after the COVID years?

Dai Qing: Some came before and some came after, so there are basically two groups. The first group is people who are dissatisfied with China’s education system and come here to have their children attend school. The second group is Ye Fu, Tang Yun, and Wang Ji, all people who have suffered political discrimination and oppression in China and can’t go back.

RFA: So you came here because you were dissatisfied with Chinese politics?

Dai Qing: It’s not that simple. It’s just that … before Hu Yaobang’s death in 1989, civil society in China hadn’t achieved a modern transformation, but it was actually much more relaxed than it is now. We could do a lot of things. Then Hu Yaobang died, and 58 days later, the crackdown continued, until it became what it is today.

RFA: What happened to you in 1989?

Dai Qing: Well, I was a journalist, so of course I was in contact with people from all walks of life. I told [1989 student leader] Chai Ling, do you think that just because you’re a good student of Chairman Mao that you can gather a bunch of heroes just by raising your arms, and be a leader? That’s not how things are. I kept telling them that they kept resisting and calling for democracy and demanding concessions even though the leaders had already made concessions. I told them it wasn’t right. I was trying to bring about peace, and they wound up putting me in Qincheng.

RFA: When you left China, did the police warn you not to give interviews, or make other demands?

Dai Qing: The police actually let me leave in 2023 because I had so many friends and relatives in the United States, and I wanted to go visit them now that my daughter had retired. She retired on her 55th birthday in 2023. I felt that I was in the later stages of my life, and I made an agreement with them that I wouldn’t give interviews or take part in activism, and they let me leave. 

Then, when I went to various universities, everyone wanted to talk to me, but it had to be in closed-door meetings. Participants weren’t allowed to record audio or take photos or video with their phones. No one was allowed to publicize it. When I got back to Hong Kong and then to Beijing, the police were very happy. As far as they were concerned, I’d stuck to the deal.

Later I asked … their boss who came to visit me whether he knew what I’d done back in the 1980s. He said they hadn’t bothered to research it. But they know now.

RFA: How are you getting along here in Chiang Mai?

Dai Qing: Actually it’s a question of “three noes and two don’ts” – that’s the way I describe my situation right now. I have no pension, no social security and no medical insurance, which is the “three noes” part. The “two don’ts” are: don’t get sick, and don’t hire help. I do all of the housework myself.

RFA: Do you still follow what’s going on back in China, culturally, economically and politically?

Dai Qing: Not so much. I care in the sense that I want to know what’s going on. For example, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was delayed for so long, then it sent out a message about how the private economy and the state-owned economy will be handled. I stay abreast of these things, but I won’t be there on the front line any more, pointing out issues and criticizing the government. Not any more. There are a lot of young people who are doing that now. I just plan to stick to what I can do, and take it easy in the time I have left.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.