The year 2018 marked 40 years of reform and development in China. However, a gloomy reality has overshadowed the democratic aspirations that many within and outside of the country had associated with the implementation of a market economy. Initially reform and opening up served as an engine to transform China from an impoverished state to a formidable economic power. Yet the process of de-politicization following the student movement in 1989 set the ball rolling on a singular economic track. In 2018, mirroring the rise of right-wing strongmen across the world, everyday life and intellectual discussion have been increasingly subject to tightened surveillance and controls as President Xi consolidates his own powerbase. - 2018年是中国改革开放40年的一年。然而,令人沮丧的现实掩盖了国内外许多人与实行市场经济有关的民主愿望。最初,改革开放是中国从一个贫穷国家转变为一个强大经济力量的引擎。然而,1989年学生运动之后的去政治化进程使经济走上了一条奇特的轨道。2018,反映了右翼强人在世界各地的崛起,日常生活和知识分子的讨论越来越受到严密的监视和控制,因为席总统巩固了自己的权力基础。