What any nation knows of its history is the result of a constant conflict between remembering, reassessing and forgetting. For governments determined to control perceptions of the past, intimidation, censorship and propaganda are their tools of choice. Oh, and there’s always the simple alternative of rewriting history. In mainland China, the official narrative explaining the Cultural Revolution has been periodically re-phrased and atrocities toned down. And Hong Kong is also seeing increasing attempts to ‘reinterpret’ recent Chinese history, particularly in school textbooks. And then there’s the thorny problem of what happened in 1989, so taboo on the mainland that around June 4th the internet search terms “today, “yesterday”, and “tomorrow” have been blocked, as has the character “zhan” (占) because it looks like a tank. Yet Hong Kong persists in remembering. With us in the studio is Joshua Wong, council member of the recently formed think tank “Dialogue China”.

In the spring of 1989, writer and professor Liu Xiaobo was in New York. He returned to China after hearing about the growing protests for democracy and against corruption. Joining the students in protest, he went on hunger strike. Days after the crackdown, he was placed in a detention centre for almost 20 months. From then on he spent much of his life in and out of prison and was deprived of political rights. In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the ceremony he was represented by an empty chair, as he was still in jail, serving an 11-year sentence for “inciting subversion of state power”. He died of liver cancer on 13th July last year. Since then his widow, Liu Xia has been under de facto house arrest and is subject to constant surveillance. Last month, dozens of leading writers and artists took part in a campaign organised by Amnesty International and PEN calling for her release.