Sally Rooney Book Published by Company With Ties to Chinese Gov’t, Report Says

The Times report states that they discovered that a Chinese translation Rooney’s second book, “Normal People,” is available on Amazon. The translation was published by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House, which has at least four senior executives who are CCP members, per the report.

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Aaron Bandler

October 14, 2021

Sally Rooney attends the 2019 Costa Book Awards on January 29, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

One of author Sally Rooney’s books was published by a company that has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to an October 14 report from The Times UK.

The Times report states that they discovered that a Chinese translation for Rooney’s second book, “Normal People,” is available on Amazon. The translation was published by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House, which has at least four senior executives who are CCP members, per the report. The CCP is the ruling party in China. Stephen D. Smith, Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation, wrote in a March 2021 Journal op-ed that “the Chinese government is engaged in a slow and deliberate genocide of the Muslim Uyghur minority.”

The Times did acknowledge that “it remains unclear whether the translation is being sold with or without Rooney’s permission” and that they have not heard back from Rooney’s representatives for confirmation. The Journal has also not heard back from her representatives by publication time.

On October 12, Rooney announced in a statement that her new book, “Beautiful World, Where Are You” would only be translated into Hebrew by a publisher that is “compliant” with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. “In the meantime I would like to express once again my solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice and equality,” she said.

Stop Antisemitism tweeted that the fact that “Normal People” was translated by a publisher with CCP shows “antisemitic hypocrisy at its finest.”

Antisemitic hypocrisy at its finest. https://t.co/7xyXT9IGp9

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 14, 2021

Karen Pollock, who heads the Britain-based Holocaust Education Trust, tweeted out a link to The Times report and wrote, “Nothing to add.”

Nothing to add.

‘Sally Rooney brought to book over Normal People’s publication in China’ ⁦@thetimes⁩https://t.co/t8C2BkRjml

— Karen Pollock (@KarenPollock100) October 14, 2021