Novelist Murakami hails Hong Kong democracy protesters in German award speech

Novelist Haruki Murakami sent a message of encouragement to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters in an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony in Berlin, comparing them to former East Germany residents confined by the Berlin Wall and Palestinians trapped by the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Murakami is the first Japanese author to win the Welt Literature Prize (Welt Literaturpreis) from German newspaper Die Welt since the award was established in 1999.