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Articles on Tiananmen Square

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Origins story: the memorial of the first national congress of the CPC in Shanghai, China. EPA-EFE/Alex Plavevski

China’s Communist Party at 100: revolution forever

As it celebrates it’s 100th birthday, the Chinese ruling party’s latest programme of education aims to harness the power of youth in its own interests.
Protesters in Hong Kong during demonstrations against China’s draft bill to impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous territory. Ivan Abreu/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Why Hong Kong’s untold history of protecting refugee rights matters now in its struggle with China

The cherished legal rights that Beijing seeks to suppress in Hong Kong were established, in part, by Vietnamese asylum-seekers who fought for their freedom in court in the 1980s.
A Buddhist monk releases birds, symbolizing the spirits of the victims of the 2004 tsunami. This Chinese tradition of analogy was taken up by the demonstrators in Hong Kong. Samantha Sin/AFP

Hong Kong: when the citizen-birds rebel

Hong Kong protesters deeply identify with nature, a reference to the current environmental crisis but also a fluid conception of collective action that is inscribed in ancient Chinese tradition.
The Hong Kong protests have drawn massive and diverse crowds. AP Photo/Kin Cheung

How Hong Kong’s protests are affecting its economy

While the political and long-term consequences of the protests are still impossible to know, Hong Kong is already experiencing some short-term economic impacts.
The official line in China is that the Tiananmen ‘incident’ was necessary for stability. This whitewashing of history has largely been accepted by many in China as the truth. How Hwee Young/EPA

Thirty years on, China is still trying to whitewash the Tiananmen crackdown from its history

The Chinese government tightly controls all mention of the 1989 pro-democracy protests, but in recent days, it’s been very open with its justifications for the brutal crackdown.
Seven years after Tahrir Square became the focal point of the Egyptian Revolution, towering metal gates now control access. Ahmed Abd El-Fatah/Wikimedia

How city squares can be public places of protest or centres of state control

Today’s urban public spaces tend to represent governments and cities rather than people and citizens. Architects and urban designers should contribute to shaping spaces for freedom and interaction.
Even when Xi Jinping meets Donald Trump, China seeks to erase history that does not suit the Communist Party’s purpose. Thomas Peter/EPA/AAP

Rewriting history in the People’s Republic of Amnesia and beyond

For China, national amnesia has become a ‘state-sponsored sport’. Memories of events deemed sensitive by the state are not just forgotten, they are winnowed out and selectively deleted.

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