The monkey and the dragon

Linda Jaivin first met Taiwan pop star Hou Dejian in 1981. His song ‘Heirs of the Dragon’ was the unifying anthem of an awakening generation in Taiwan, Hong Kong and on mainland China. In June 1983 Hou defected to communist China, a stunning and bizarre move which shocked his friends and fans. In 1989 he was one of the last hunger-strikers on Tiananmen Square where he saved the lives of thousands of protestors, and later, with Linda’s help, took refuge in the Australian Embassy in Beijing. After seventy days he returned to the streets but wouldn’t be silenced. In 1990 the authorities abducted him and put him on a fishing boat bound for Taiwan where he became a fengshui master. He still writes the occasional song.