In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.

This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China's relationship with the outside world.

The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there's still a one-party system and strong censorship.

I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.

China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even here.

This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.

To experience poetry is to see over and above reality. It is to discover that which is beyond the physical, to experience another life and another level of feeling. It is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.