(October 16, 2009) Every October, the German city of Frankfurt hosts the world’s biggest book fair. The event is no stranger to local controversy. Yet the storm brewing between the fair’s organizers and China is of global importance, because it will expose the limits of Beijing’s tolerance for free speech.

(October 14, 2009) Berlin – Organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair worked for 15 years to secure China as the guest of honor at their five-day showcase of global trends and best sellers that opens to industry delegates Wednesday. Organizers are steeling themselves for lively discussions and the possibility of protests at the fair, which boasts about 6,900 exhibitors from more than 100 countries.

(October 9, 2009) My plane landed in Frankfurt at 5:00 a.m. I was tired and jet lagged. I had spent the whole eight-hour trip reading about China’s publishing industry. I was assigned by a U.S.-based publishing magazine to cover the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest trade fair on books. China had been made the Guest of Honor this year.

(September 28, 2009) The Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), the largest trade show of its kind, turned messy this year before it had even started. At the center of the brouhaha: China, the official guest of honor of the book fair 2009. Or, to be more precise, the row over the revoked invitation of two Chinese “dissidents,” Dai Qing and Bei Ling, to a symposium in the run-up to the Book Fair.

(September 24, 2009)The problems surrounding the Frankfurt Book Fair continue to grow, with the Chinese government refusing to allow author and political dissident Liao Yiwu to travel to attend the event in October.

(September 24, 2009) Doubts have arisen as to whether China is the right country to be the guest of honor at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair

(September 22, 2009) The dispute between the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair and this year’s guest of honour at the event, China, has garnered a considerable amount of press coverage. Recently, two articles in the Wall Street Journal have responded to the dispute—first by highlighting the issues confronting Chinese officials in the build-up to an event that is based on free speech and cultural expression, and second by looking at the diplomatic implications of China’s decision to try and censor the proceedings.

(September 21, 2009) A dispute between China and organizers of the famed Frankfurt Book Fair threatens to overshadow the world’s premier publishing event and become a diplomatic headache for German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of elections later this month.

(September 16, 2009) A Chinese government official is expressing outrage at the organizers of last weekend’s symposium, which was part of the run-up to next month’s Frankfurt Book Fair, after dissident writers Dai Qing and Bei Ling were allowed to participate in the event.