While the Communist mafia gothers in Beijing to find ways to squash the populace unhappiness which led to 74,000 protests in 2004, a Taiwanese writer turned politician went to Beijing and spoke truth to power. He should be getting the Nobel:

"The government that oppresses freedom of speech is the worst one," Li brazenly declared during a speech at Peking University while professors there openly shuddered.

Next came talk of other Communist Party of China moves to undermine democracy, including its use of force in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

While he talked about his struggle for democracy in Taiwan, including his years of imprisonment, Li stressed to the audience,"You can surely win freedom of speech."

Explaining himself after the Sept. 22 lecture, one of a series during his 11-day trip to Beijing and Shanghai, Li told reporters his remarks were in the interests of unification.

"Because I support the unification of Taiwan and China, I feel obliged to rectify the defects of the Communist Party," he said