Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.

Any individual can contribute its own belief. And our society or even our government are made by the people. The people would have the final voice, but it requires each individual to act. If we don't act, then the result is very clear. So for too long Americans take liberty as granted. We think we are in the safe hand, the democracy and the liberty, which is not true. And it can be even getting much worse than today.

I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include the people. The event was constructed without regard for their joy.

Individual; that means he has his own special way to communicate, which creates the form of him. In the information age, this expression and communication has become so different.

If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.

I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.

There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.