<
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/01/gen-z-chinamaxxing-china-graphic-novel-you-must-take-part-in-revolution>
"Drinking Tsingtao beers, eating congee, walking with hands behind their backs:
for many young people in western countries, “Chinamaxxing” has become all the
rage. Some content creators have even gone beyond the jokes about being in “a
very Chinese time in my life” and have followed this passion to the Middle
Kingdom: making TikToks in Chongqing’s multilayered metropolis, bathing in
Chengdu’s 24-hour spas or backflipping on the Great Wall of China.
This irreverent, mostly ironic trend is jarring for some, but Chinese
Australian artist Badiucao and Chinese American journalist Melissa Chan don’t
want to lecture the so-called Chinamaxxers.
“The younger generation feel like there is no meaningful method to change
society. They feel defeated when they see what’s happening in Gaza – there’s
been protests but the government doesn’t care and is collaborating with
atrocities in wars. There’s also the Epstein files in America, which show how
the elite is corrupt,” says Badiucao, who, along with Chan, is in Sydney to
promote their new book,
You Must Take Part in Revolution.
“When you want to see change, there is the hard way, which is being innovative
and finding a solution. And there is the lazy way, which is finding a cheap
alternative and fantasising about a faraway, oriental, communist country that
might be your future,” he says.
Chan and Badiucao have both paid the price for criticising China’s one-party
system. Chinese officials refused to renew Chan’s press credentials before
expelling the former
Al Jazeera journalist from China in 2012; and the
previously anonymous political cartoonist Badiucao was forced to reveal his
identity in 2019 after it was compromised and authorities threatened his family
in China.
You Must Take Part in Revolution, the pair’s debut graphic novel, portrays a
dystopian future where China is at war with the United States in 2035.
The graphic novel features a variety of characters from the Chinese-speaking
diaspora, including from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US and Tibet, as they decide
what choices they are willing to make under authoritarian oppression."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
