Political Contestation in China: Instances from the Past, Impacts on the Future

At a time when China seeks to regain its economic momentum, the Communist leadership is bracing for a 2019 marked by the unfolding of controversial anniversaries that may potentially disrupt the country's internal stability. Policy choices rooted in experiences such as the 1919 May Fourth Movement or the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, up to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the 2009 Urumqi riots, have contributed to shape China’s current domestic security model. What can we learn about China today from its encounters with political contestation in the past? In which direction is the country’s national security headed? To what extent does technology assist Chinese authorities in limiting political contestation?