It’s 2035. The US and China are at war. America is a proto-fascist state. Taiwan is divided into two. Esteemed activist artist Badiucao and Emmy-nominated journalist Melissa Chan have released a near–future dystopian graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution about technology, authoritarian government, and the lengths that one will go to in the fight for freedom. They will be talking to German writer and journalist Kai Strittmatter, whose book We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State explains how the internet and high tech have allowed Chinese authoritarians to create the most efficient surveillance state in history.

Unfortunately, Kai Strittmatter will not be able to participate in the discussion and will be replaced by Kateřina Procházková as moderator.

In partnership with Sinopsis.

Badiucao is a Chinese exile artist and activist. He has made a name for himself on the international scene mainly through social media, participatory campaigns, posters, and political cartoons. He opposes any form of ideological or moral control exercised by political powers. He has exhibited widely in the United States, Australia, and Europe, including the acclaimed exhibition MADe IN CHINA at DOX in 2021. He has collaborated with Amnesty International, Freedom House, BBC, CNN, and China Digital Times. In 2021 Garry Kasparov, president of the Human Rights Foundation, presented Badiucao with the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. His latest work, co-authored with journalist Melissa Chan, is the dystopian graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution (2025), a story set in 2035 about courage and moral dilemmas in politically charged times. The book has already received widespread acclaim and has been compared to the graphic novels MAUS and Persepolis.

Melissa Chan is an American journalist and reporter with Chinese-Taiwanese roots. After studying at Yale and the London School of Economics, she worked as a correspondent for Al Jazeera in Beijing. She was expelled from China in 2012 for her critical reporting. She has worked for publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Time, The Guardian, and others. She has received a number of prestigious journalism prizes, including two Human Rights Press Awards from Amnesty International. She co-wrote the dystopian graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution (2025) with Chinese exile artist Badiucao. Set in 2035, the book is a powerful story of courage and moral dilemmas as well as a warning of a possible future.