China tries to ‘erase Tibet’ from book

An author forced to change printers at the last minute says taking out two words the Chinese censor refused to print would have been a travesty.

Sydney-based author Miro Bilbrough’s upcoming memoir, the Time of the Manaroans, was due to be printed in China before the words ‘‘Tibetan Buddhism’’ were requested to be removed from the manuscript. Bilbrough, who grew up in New Zealand, said the words were ‘‘non-negotiable’’.

She said China had overt, geopolitical views about Tibet, by not recognising it as a country.

‘‘That is what censorship is, they are symbolically erasing Tibet.’’

She was pleased publisher Victoria University Press was on the same page as her.

‘‘I am really happy that Victoria University Press is taking the book elsewhere – and not pandering to this very overt censorship.’’

The use of the phrase ‘‘Tibetan Buddhism’’ related to a discussion of the concept of karma and the book itself was not about Tibetan sovereignty but about the experience of being a child of hippies in 1970s New Zealand.

It focused on her journey as a teenager, after she moved to Marlborough to live with her recently single father and his hippy friends at the age of 14, following a fallout with her communist grandmother.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in New Zealand said he wanted to look into the specifics of the case before commenting.

Craig Gamble, publishing manager at Victoria University Press, told Stuff all books printed in China had to be approved by the censor, and the organisation allowed time for the possibility of last-minute changes.

In the Time of the Manaroans is due to be released on September 10.