He said he plans to make enough money to buy food through selling his writing. He also hit out at ruling Chinese Communist Party officials for maintaining an "extravagant lifestyle" when most of the population are struggling to get by. "Most of our compatriots are barely able to feed themselves and are struggling to survive," he said.
"Half of China is under water and the rainstorms keep coming," he added, in a reference to massive flooding across the Yangtze river basin this summer. "The bad points of our political system won't change, and countries around the world are starting to defend themselves against it," Xu said, adding that Chinese academics are afraid to be isolated, so "languish" within it, not speaking out. "But totalitarian power will be defeated, and freedom will finally come to my land," he said.
