China is constructing a new hero cult – here’s why that matters

By Vincent K.L. Chang, Assistant Professor of the History and International Relations of Modern China, Leiden University

A tour guide competition was held in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late May. This was not some fun contest. According to Chinese state media, it was a carefully conceived effort to “attract and cultivate a group of politically firm and professionally skilled storytellers of heroes and martyrs in the new era”.

It symbolises the ambitious and far-reaching campaign launched by the Chinese state to revive the…

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