as General Secretary, effectively ending his period of influence within the Chinese government. In January 1987, as part of Deng Xiaoping's crackdown on "bourgeois liberalism," Liu Binyan was again expelled from the Communist Party. In spring of 1988 he came to the United States for teaching and writing; then, after publicly denouncing the Chinese government for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he was barred from returning to China and never saw his homeland again. Although largely isolated from his Chinese readers, he continued to write about China where his sources often came from interviewing visitors from China. He published articles critical of Chinese corruption for the Hong Kong media, and offered commentary for the U.S. government funded Radio Free Asia (nonetheless, he was reported to "detest American capitalism" and expressed dismay at a certain Chinese dissident's support for the Iraq war). Until the end, he remained an adherent of socialism with a human face, was critical of social inequality and consumerist cynicism in China, and stressed that the Communist Party of China, which he had joined as a youth, had many positive achievements before the Maoist crimes and its transformation into the "foul, reactionary force" that it was today. He died in East Windsor, New Jersey on December 5, 2005 from complications due to colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, Zhu Hong. External links Liu Binyan, a Fierce Insider Critic of China, Dies at 80 (The New York Times; December 6, 2005) Obituary (Guardian Unlimited) The 'Conscience of China' is dead (The Times; December 6, 2005) Exiled Chinese writer Liu Binyan dead (UPI; December 6, 2005) Leading Chinese dissident writer Liu Binyan dies at 80 (Japan Today; December 6, 2005) China dissident Liu 'dies in US' The prominent Chinese dissident writer, Liu Binyan, has died at the age of 80 in the US, reports say. (BBC; December 5, 2005) See also Wang Shouxin Human rights in China Anti-Rightist Movement Cultural Revolution Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Fang Lizhi Wang Ruowang Sayaka Morohoshi Communism in China References 1925 births 2005 deaths Chinese dissidents Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in New Jersey People's Republic of China journalists Writers from Changchun International Writing Program alumni Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign Victims of the Cultural Revolution