In response to China’s boldest and most widespread protests in decades, the security apparatus built by Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is mobilizing on multiple fronts to quell dissenters. dissidents, using their decades-old toolkit of repression and surveillance.
During a meeting of the party’s top security leaders, coverage in state media on Tuesday, officials were ordered to “resolutely crack down on illegal acts and criminals that disrupt social order.” And by evening, the protests appeared to have become smaller and more dispersed, with new videos appearing on social media – the main channel for bringing news of the protests to a wider audience – mainly showing groups of residents in several different blockaded development areas demanded to be released.
At the same time, the government announced it would increase vaccinations for the elderly. That move is seen as crucial to loosening China’s tight Covid-19 controls that have sparked public anger, signaling that as Beijing cracks down on dissidents political opinion, they are also moving to address the underlying problem of the protests.
Public security personnel and vehicles have covered potential protest sites. Police officers are searching some residents’ phones for banned apps. Officials are going to the homes of protesters to warn them of illegal activities and are taking some away for questioning. Moderators are removing protest icons and slogans from social networks.
The campaign is being carried out by a security apparatus that Mr. Xi has upgraded in pursuit of unshakable dominance. He expanded the police force, promoted loyal security leaders to key positions and declared that “political security” — for him and the party — must be the foundation of national security. family.
However, even when Mr. Xi took action against the police, he remained calm as usual.
He has remained silent about the rare public challenge to his rule that erupted during protests, including calls for him to step down. He seems to be betting that by ignoring the protests outside, he can dampen their momentum while the security services step in and the party’s army of online loyalists tries to discredit the protesters as instruments of American-led subversion.
“They are talking as little as possible for as long as possible,” says William Hurst, a professor at Cambridge University who studies politics and protests in China. “If they do, it can add to the tension, so you’re better off sitting back and pretending nothing happened.”
On Tuesday, the People’s Daily, the party’s main newspaper, published Mr. Xi holds talks with visiting Mongolian President and a front page celebration during Xi’s decade in power, but did not say a word about the protests, the most common in China since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in 1989.
Understanding the protests in China
There seems to be no doubt, however, that inside the well-guarded isolated enclave of the party’s Zhongnanhai leadership district in Beijing, Mr. Xi and his advisers have been monitoring the unrest. and response planning. Since the 1989 protests, China’s leaders have been mindful of the dangers of anti-government social movements, determined to smother them in their bud and avoid being hurt by a mass demonstration. another bloody pressure.
Even so, the protests that erupted in some parts of Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities over the weekend appeared to catch leaders off guard.
Public anger first flared up in Urumqi, a city in western China where at least 10 people died in an apartment fire last week. Many have said, despite official denials, that the deaths were due to pandemic restrictions that prevented residents from leaving their apartment complexes. Protests against the tragedy have escalated into broader denunciations of China’s pandemic policies, as well as calls from some for democracy, press freedom and others. Other ideals are cursed towards the country’s authoritarian rulers.
This week, China’s security forces regrouped, making new protests much more difficult and risky.
“I’m pretty sure the security apparatus will get this under control pretty quickly,” he said H. Christoph Steinhardt, a scholar at the University of Vienna who studies protest patterns in China. “I guess they’ll start with identifying the ringleaders and then build on them, incorporating preventive controls in public areas.”
In Hangzhou, a prosperous city about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai, the police broke up an attempted demonstration on Monday night, shouting at passersby and dragging away a screaming woman. dozens of people also confront the officers someone who has detained someone, chanting “release them.”
In the southern city of Guangzhou, a video posted online on Monday showed a hundreds of police officers wearing helmets and white protective clothing, possibly to ward off Covid, banged batons on riot shields as they strode through a street, warning people to disperse. Workers in the Haizhu district of Guangzhou clashed with police on Tuesday, according to video posted online and workers reach by phone.
Officials across China have visited the homes of protesters or stopped possible people on the streets. They check their phones for apps banned in China, delete images of protests and warn people not to take to the streets anymore.
“When the police arrived at my door, I had to delete my text messages,” said a Beijing resident who attended a protest vigil near the Liangma River on Sunday night. She asked to use only her last name, Chen, citing fear of police retaliation.
Ms. Chen said she was driven by grief and frustration with the strict “Covid-free” policies that have been in place for nearly three years, including citywide closures and Covid tests. continuous.
“I don’t really have any specific slogans and requirements,” she said. “It’s about pent-up pain for years.”
Officials appear to be trying to quietly address the most common grievances about China’s Covid restrictions, which have disrupted life, study and business.
Many residents have complained about a 20 point rule set issued by the government on November 11, initially seemed to promise an easing of pandemic restrictions. However, it has had little effect on the reality, where local officials are under enormous pressure to contain the Covid outbreak.
Since protests over the weekend, local governments across China have said they will prevent people from being locked inside for longer than necessary to prevent the outbreak from spreading. On Tuesday, an article from Xinhua News Agency, the main state news agency, urged officials to show compassion for frustrated residents.
“All regions and departments must be more patient in addressing public concerns,” the article says. “The fight against the pandemic is complex, arduous and iterative, and we must listen to the sincere voices of the public.”
Avoiding direct mention of the protests by China’s leaders or in state media may be a deliberate strategy to try to downplay their importance. In 1989, the students occupying Tiananmen Square became angry after an editorial in the People’s Daily, the party mouthpiece, denounced them as intrusive troublemakers. The unrest this time has not reached that scale, and officials appear to have learned their lesson.
Professor Hurst of Cambridge University said: “The moment the central leadership takes an official line, they are honoring the protests with an official response and acknowledging that they must be taken into account. , which gives them a status where they would rather deny them.” .
In Shanghai, Beijing and other cities, police dispersed some protesters. Some were released after several days in detention. Particular attention has been paid to university students. At Tsinghua University, a prestigious university in Beijing, shouts from a crowd of hundreds of students demanding “democracy and the rule of law” and “freedom of speech” during the protest could be the most daring on campus.
Tsinghua managers said on Sunday that students could leave early for winter break and offer free train or plane travel, a step likely to defuse new protests.
In China, such a response is considered limited. But that may not last, and that doesn’t mean the Communist Party government will treat all protesters leniently. Instead of speaking out directly, the party has allowed social media loyalists to portray the protesters as pawns, knowingly or unknowingly, in the face of Western efforts to destabilize China. and discredit the country’s “no Covid” policy.
As of Monday, one The chorus is developing Among these online commentators are associate the protests with the “color revolution”,” a term borrowed from Russia to describe purported Western-backed plots to sow rebellion in rival countries. Some have claimed the protesters are accomplices of the rocking Hong Kong in 2019led Xi to impose national security laws there and far-reaching repression against anti-government activists.
“Their trouble-making style is the typical color revolution,” said a commentary on the protests that spread over the weekend. on unofficial Chinese websites and social media. It says that protest leaders “are using their worst malice to incite members of the public not to understand their true nature — especially university students and top intellectuals.” cramming Western thought — participate.”
In previous years, the intimidation of the authorities and a heavy police presence may have been enough to quell any budding protest movements. This time, some protesters vowed to keep putting pressure on the Chinese government. On social media groups operating outside China’s censorship firewalls, they exchanged ideas for moving in smaller clusters, using multiple phones, and finding ways to track and share information about networks. police activities.
But Xi’s security options are far from exhausted. China has about 2 million ordinary police officer – by some measures, relatively few for its 1.4 billion people – but also a million armed policemen or moreHe was trained to quell unrest, as were protective corpsmen and supporting police officers. Finally, there is also the Chinese military. And as in the crackdown in Hong Kong, Chinese authorities may make more arrests once the turmoil subsides.
On Tuesday, Chen Wenqing, head of the Communist Party’s law and order affairs committee, convened officials to convey instructions from Xi and other leaders, an official report said. “We must follow the law to resolutely attack the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces,” a brief summary of Mr. Chen’s comments said.
Edward Luo, 23, who watched the protest in Shanghai on Sunday, said he was a student in Hong Kong during the 2019 protests and was worried that young protesters in Shanghai did not understand. capture the risks they face.
“I think some people are not scared, and there are some students who may not understand how stressful this situation can be on them,” he said. “Like a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers.”
Bronze Joy, Olivia Wang and Amy Chang Chien contribution report.
