Surveillance, fear, and exile: The price of speaking out against China

When does political resistance become a moral obligation?Chinese-Australian artist Badiucao and Chinese-American journalist Melissa Chan have both paid a personal price for criticising China's one-party system. Between them, they've faced expulsion, surveillance, harassment and intimidation.Badiucao even found a man who had assumed his identity. Together, Chan and Badiucao have created the graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution, exploring a dystopian future in which a tech-authoritarian China locks horns with a fascistic United States, with Taiwan caught in the middle.The book asks the question: how far should you go in resisting an authoritarian regime?Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue speak with Chan and Badiucao about how the Hong Kong protests of 2019 brought their concerns about China to the forefront, the risks of AI supercharging the threat of surveillance, and why the individual right to liberty and freedom of expression is more important than simply siding with the United States or China. Guests: Melissa Chan, journalist & Badiucao, artist.Melissa Chan and Badiucao are speaking at Sydney's Festival of Dangerous Ideas.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]