Alfred_ganquan
March 29th, 2010, 01:20 AM
If you are a science fiction fan, and happened to have attended the 2007 International SF/Fantasy Conference held in Chengdu, China, you must be familiar with a magazine called Science Fiction World (SFW), which almost single-handedly hosted that conference. As the most influential sci-fi magazine in China (and also the one with the world’s largest volume of circulation in this particular genre), SFW is to Chinese sci-fi fans just as Analog is to American readers, or Interzone is to British readers. However, just three years after the successful SF/Fantasy Conference (which was attended by well-known authors around the world such as Neil Gaiman, Michael Swanwick, Robert Sawyer and Nancy Kress etc.), the magazine is facing total collapse, as the editors of SFW issued a “open letter” on the Internet earlier last week, demanding that the new Chief Editor of the magazine be fired.
All this mess started when Li Chang, originally an editor of a local tabloid, was placed in his current office as the Chief Editor of SFW by the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology (SAST). This man turned out to be completely ignorant about how a magazine like SFW should be managed, as he fired a number of highly experienced editors shortly after his installment, and then attempted to transform SFW, a widely-circulated sci-fi magazine of much international renown, into a “small farm workshop” by stop buying stories from professional writers while letting “language editors write stories and art editors draw illustrations”. Other attempts of Li to compromise the quality of the magazine include changing the cover arts into promotional pictures for commercial schools, using cheaper paper to save money, selling advertisement slots to companies to which he is personally connected, as well as reducing employee welfares (e.g. canceling the annual physical check for the editors). To make matters worse, when other editors spoke against Li’s “reformations”, he claimed that he had “acquaintances” high up in the bureaucratic hierarchy and that he would retaliate on anyone who dares to stand in his way. All these events have precipitated the resign of even more highly qualified editors, the sharp drop in the magazine’s quality ever since last year, as well as this “open revolt”, which has been reported by many major media in China, including Xinhua.net (http://news.xinhuanet.com/englis ... 3/25/c_13224641.htm) and China Daily (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-03/23/content_9625795.htm).
If you are from out of China, this might seem a pretty weird case. Why can’t the editors of SFW simply vote Li out of the window? Well, there’s something special with this particular magazine. Although SFW is financially self-dependent, it is still officially affiliated to SAST, which is a governmental organ. It is a tradition that the Chief Editor of SFW (or any journal in a similar status) be assigned by her “big brother”. In other words, Li is actually a government watchdog assigned to supervise the management of SFW,but has unfortunately proved himself to be utterly incompetent and corrupt. Due to the uniqueness of the Chinese bureaucratic system, it is currently impossible to solve the problem through the so-called “normal” channels. The union doesn’t have enough power to step in either. The only option the editors of SFW have left is to take advantage of the huge fan communities she enjoys in China and use public opinions to force Li out of his office.
Currently the sci-fi fans in China are launching a massive on-line campaign to support the demands of the SFW editors, including a “cyber supporting march” movement using Google Maps. Li was in Taiwan for a meeting when the incident occured and wasn't able to respond (the SFW editors picked the timing of the “revolt” on purpose). But he has just got back in Chengdu and if his self-proclaimed connections with the SAST offices are true, the future seems pretty desperate, as ruthless retaliation is definitely to be expected. The worst-case scenario here is that all editors that have signed on the open letter (well, that’s pretty much ALL editors SFW has left) are fired by Li or by demand from the government, and the magazine essentially becomes history.
If you love science fiction, and are unwilling to see the only science fiction magazine in the world that sells more than 300,000 copies per issue perish from the universe, leaving a black hole in the international science fiction community, please join us Chinese sci-fi fans in this campaign and support the just demand of the SFW editors! You can forward the link of this thread to your friends, join the “cyber supporting march” on Google Maps to Renmin South Road 4th Section in Chengdu, China where the editorial office of the magazine is located (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=30.62917,104.06721&spn=0.006758,0.013937&z=17&layer=t&msid=109175990240142975521.000482c00537ed84b7a96), or voice your opinion to the local media (newspaper, radio station etc) in the place you live to raise awareness about this event all around the world. Remember: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Edmund Burke)” Thank you very much!
All this mess started when Li Chang, originally an editor of a local tabloid, was placed in his current office as the Chief Editor of SFW by the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology (SAST). This man turned out to be completely ignorant about how a magazine like SFW should be managed, as he fired a number of highly experienced editors shortly after his installment, and then attempted to transform SFW, a widely-circulated sci-fi magazine of much international renown, into a “small farm workshop” by stop buying stories from professional writers while letting “language editors write stories and art editors draw illustrations”. Other attempts of Li to compromise the quality of the magazine include changing the cover arts into promotional pictures for commercial schools, using cheaper paper to save money, selling advertisement slots to companies to which he is personally connected, as well as reducing employee welfares (e.g. canceling the annual physical check for the editors). To make matters worse, when other editors spoke against Li’s “reformations”, he claimed that he had “acquaintances” high up in the bureaucratic hierarchy and that he would retaliate on anyone who dares to stand in his way. All these events have precipitated the resign of even more highly qualified editors, the sharp drop in the magazine’s quality ever since last year, as well as this “open revolt”, which has been reported by many major media in China, including Xinhua.net (http://news.xinhuanet.com/englis ... 3/25/c_13224641.htm) and China Daily (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-03/23/content_9625795.htm).
If you are from out of China, this might seem a pretty weird case. Why can’t the editors of SFW simply vote Li out of the window? Well, there’s something special with this particular magazine. Although SFW is financially self-dependent, it is still officially affiliated to SAST, which is a governmental organ. It is a tradition that the Chief Editor of SFW (or any journal in a similar status) be assigned by her “big brother”. In other words, Li is actually a government watchdog assigned to supervise the management of SFW,but has unfortunately proved himself to be utterly incompetent and corrupt. Due to the uniqueness of the Chinese bureaucratic system, it is currently impossible to solve the problem through the so-called “normal” channels. The union doesn’t have enough power to step in either. The only option the editors of SFW have left is to take advantage of the huge fan communities she enjoys in China and use public opinions to force Li out of his office.
Currently the sci-fi fans in China are launching a massive on-line campaign to support the demands of the SFW editors, including a “cyber supporting march” movement using Google Maps. Li was in Taiwan for a meeting when the incident occured and wasn't able to respond (the SFW editors picked the timing of the “revolt” on purpose). But he has just got back in Chengdu and if his self-proclaimed connections with the SAST offices are true, the future seems pretty desperate, as ruthless retaliation is definitely to be expected. The worst-case scenario here is that all editors that have signed on the open letter (well, that’s pretty much ALL editors SFW has left) are fired by Li or by demand from the government, and the magazine essentially becomes history.
If you love science fiction, and are unwilling to see the only science fiction magazine in the world that sells more than 300,000 copies per issue perish from the universe, leaving a black hole in the international science fiction community, please join us Chinese sci-fi fans in this campaign and support the just demand of the SFW editors! You can forward the link of this thread to your friends, join the “cyber supporting march” on Google Maps to Renmin South Road 4th Section in Chengdu, China where the editorial office of the magazine is located (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=30.62917,104.06721&spn=0.006758,0.013937&z=17&layer=t&msid=109175990240142975521.000482c00537ed84b7a96), or voice your opinion to the local media (newspaper, radio station etc) in the place you live to raise awareness about this event all around the world. Remember: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Edmund Burke)” Thank you very much!