In mainland China, Taiwanese books wait in limbo as censors bolster publishing barriers

In August 2018, Taiwanese writer Lung Ying-tai’s collection of essays – mostly about her love for her mother – was published in mainland China. It became a bestseller.

Lung, who served as Taiwan’s minister of culture from 2012 to 2014, sold nearly 300,000 copies of her book in mainland China – an astonishing figure for a literary work – despite one of the world’s strictest publishing censorship systems.

While Lung had previously sparked controversy in the mainland – having openly criticised former president Hu Jintao – her book was quickly cleared by regulators and was available to mainland readers four months after the original Taiwanese edition was published.

Three years later, this would become unthinkable in mainland China, where book editors now find it difficult to publish new Taiwanese literature because of growing pressure from regulators.

The restrictions have taken a heavy toll on Taiwanese books, which are often very popular among mainland Chinese readers.

Other authors who found success across the Taiwan Strait include Pai Hsien-yung, with his depiction of urban life in Taiwan in the mid-20th century, and Lin Yi-han, whose novel Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise sold more than 1 million copies on the mainland.