Liu Xia, the Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo's widow, came to Berlin 2018 after the direct involvement of Angela Merkel. And Liao Yiwu is the man who made a nude protest outside the Stockholm Concert Hall during the 2013 Nobel Prize ceremony.

- That was a truly honorable experience. I made my way across the square, up to the ledge. During the Nobel Prize's more than 100-year history, no one would have knocked there, he recalls with a smile.

Run naked across the square

The year before, Mo Yan had received the Nobel Prize in literature. And then Liao Yiwu was also outside the awards ceremony along with her friend artist Meng Huang, who ran naked across the square in protest of the award. That year, Liao Yiwu kept his coat on.

In Berlin there are Chinese artists, writers and poets.

- Like Ai Weiwei, and Liao Yiwu, and others, like poet Yang Lian, and many lesser-known dissidents, says journalist and activist Su Yutong.

Not a total force

Su Yutong has testified before the US Congress, along with Swedish Angela Gui, about China's attempt to silence critics abroad. She says that the Chinese activists in Berlin are a group of many problems.

- The group is neither alive nor united.

Artist Ai Weiwei has his studio in Berlin, but lately he has talked about moving to the UK. He thanks no to SVT's interview request when he finds out that we have already interviewed Liao Yiwu. Liao Yiwu and Ai Weiwei do not agree. During a performance in connection with a book release that evening, Ai Weiwei gets a question about the relationship with Liao Yiwu, and he replies: "I really don't like that guy."

- Mr Liao Yiwu has criticized Ai Weiwei openly in the press. He has called him the "red descendant of the Communist Party". They often have this type of dispute. So when it comes to the dissident group as a whole, we get divided. We are not a unified force.

Quite disappointed

Su Yutong is close friends with both Liao Yiwu and Ai Weiwei, and both admire and respect them.

- I'm a little disappointed, or, quite disappointed by the Chinese dissidents as a group. But I respect several of my predecessors.