Ten years ago today I was stuck in my apartment complex, or 小区, alone and hungry, and lucky to be in, not out. Because the authorities had locked down everything within a few blocks of Tian’anmen Square and Chang’an Avenue for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Today’s the 70th, and though we’ve now left China, from all accounts this lockdown is even heavier than the last. For all the wonderful memories I have of China, there are many like this, too: the raw display of power over people; the infinite urge to control.
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