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2030. Hong Kong has become a police state under constant surveillance. America is a proto-fascist nation, with a military base in Taiwan. As conflict escalates between the nuclear powers of China and the U.S., three individuals — who first met in the Hong Kong protests of 2019 — have diverging beliefs about how to navigate this techno-authoritarian landscape. Andy is a Chinese-American, son of 1989 protestors. Granny Chan is a native Hong Konger, saddened by the changes the city has seen. Meanwhile Maggie, a former hardline protestor, is stuck in a high-security Chinese prison.
In the graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution (Street Noise Books, March 2025), journalist Melissa Chan and artist Badiucao present a bleak, dystopian picture of this future. Confronting themes of technology, authoritarianism and the lengths that people go to in the fight for freedom, the book is a dark read which pulls no punches. We’re delighted to present an excerpt from this work of graphic fiction below:
Meanwhile…
Excerpted from You Must Take Part in Revolution (March, 2025) by Melissa Chan and Badiucao, used with permission of Street Noise Books.
Badiucao is a Chinese Australian artist and activist. He has exhibited in the U.S., Australia and Europe, has been interviewed by The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times and others. In 2020, Badiucao won the Human Rights Foundation’s Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. He currently lives in exile in Australia. You Must Take Part in Revolution (2025) is his debut graphic novel.
Melissa Chan is a Hong Kong and Taiwanese American foreign correspondent based between Los Angeles and Berlin. She was previously posted in China, until she was expelled by Chinese authorities in 2012. A contributor to VICE, Al Jazeera, The New York Times, The Atlantic and more, her reporting examines human rights and global authoritarianism. She is the author of You Must Take Part in Revolution (2025).
