“A writer must of course uphold intellectual freedom, defend all aspects of the development of man and pursues the progress of man from he kingdom of necessity to that of freedom from to which ends he will not flinch from his social and moral obligations.  Intellectual freedom is a duty as well as a right, just as the writers imagination is a freedom of choice, so the people, his readers, must be free to choose the writers they concur with. Similarly, the peoples choice of a state may decide to be the result of the popular imagination, however hard that choice, at times, might be.”

 

 

During the 1986 International PEN Congress, Wang Meng provides insight into the parallel and necessarily intersecting responsibilities, requirements and restraints of both the Writer and the State.