Well into New Year 2009 Liu Xiaobo is still in detention for his part in Charter 2008, the petition signed late last year by many Chinese intellectuals calling for sweeping democratic change in China. According to this, the Chinese government is trying to suppress all discussion of the charter. I wrote about the charter for The Guardian – you can read that piece here – and was surprised to see a reply on an official Chinese government-run site. I have to say that I'm a little touchy about any reference to my backside, but in the interests of democratic debate I'm prepared, just this once, to turn the other cheek…