Chinese President Xi Jinping is shown on a large video screen in Hong Kong on May 28, during a live broadcast of the National People's Congress in Beijing. (Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)

Washington Post
Date: May 29, 2020
By: Arthur Tam 

The successes of Hong Kong, Taiwan and the rest of the Chinese diaspora have always been an embarrassment for Beijing. Not only are they reminders of China’s historical failures, but they also represent an alternative way of life, where peoples of the same origin could somehow thrive outside of the watchful eye of the Communist Party. To Beijing, that’s an irreconcilable insult, a memory that needs to be murdered.

That helps explain why China’s government is so determined to tighten its authoritarian grip on their cultural exports. In the past, it has even gone as far as making Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists sign a pledge that they will identify as “Chinese" and not engage in any “politically incorrect” activity while in the mainland.    [FULL  STORY]