He was once hailed as the pride of China. Now nationalists are coming for this Nobel laureate

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. A top Communist Party official sent a letter of congratulations, hailing his win as a reflection of the rise of Chinese literature and the country’s “overall national strength and international influence.” More than a decade on, the 69-year-old writer is under fire from a belligerent brand of nationalism that has thrived under Xi Jinping, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades. Wu listed dozens of alleged transgressions in Mo’s books, including his acclaimed novel “Red Sorghum,” a story of love and resistence spanning three generations of a rural Chinese family in the 20th century, starting from the early years of the war against Japanese invasion. Murong Xuecun, an independent Chinese writer and renowned novelist who now lives in exile, said the “chilling effect” of Xi’s crackdown on free speech had spurred the attacks against Mo. In 2013, months after Xi came to power, Mo delivered a searing defense of Chairman Mao, comparing those seeking to “deny, demonize and caricaturize” the supreme leader to “earthworms trying to shake a big tree.” And in 2016, Mo lavished praise on Xi at a meeting of the Chinese Writers Association, describing the leader as “a great person, a well-read person, a person with a high appreciation of art and a true expert.” “General Secretary Xi is our reader, our friend, and – of course – our ideological guide,” he told his fellow writers who had gathered in Beijing from across the country.