How the fight for a Chinese bookstore’s future heightened concerns over cultural squeeze
The fate of a popular venue in the southwestern city of Chengdu has highlighted the increasing pressure on public activities
Although the bookstore now appears to have been given a reprieve, some key details about the process – including the decision-making process that determined its fate – remain unclear.
On October 29, Zhang Feng, the writer and commentator who opened the bookstore in the capital of Sichuan province two years ago, wrote on social media that the shop would have to close because it was facing an “irresistible force” – a phrase often used as a usual euphemism for political pressure.
“I had imagined many possible ways for the bookstore to end. The most likely one was force majeure – and now, it has really come,” Zhang said. “Well then. My friends, I have fought the good fight.”
One comment under his post asked why the shop was closing, saying the events it hosted “have been great”, prompting Zhang to reply “that’s exactly the reason”.