CHINA-SECURITY IN BEIJING FOR 19TH PARTY CONGRESS
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Beijing's Party Secretary Cai Qi, who was handpicked by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the position, was quoted by Hongkong's South China Morning Post on September 27, 2017, as promising to eradicate online political rumours ahead of the Party Congress in October. Speaking to Party authorities in charge of preparations on September 26, Cai Qi asked local officials to ensure security and stability in the capital. The official Beijing Daily quoted him as saying “We need to strengthen social controls, eliminating all kinds of unstable elements.We need to strengthen cyber security defence, firmly cracking down on various political rumours and harmful information.” Controls in recent months have been tightened by clamping down on individuals’ use of virtual private networks (VPN) – the tools used by mainland people to circumvent the censors’ Great Firewall and access overseas websites, and WhatsApp. The government also recently imposed fines on the country’s biggest social media platforms for failing to remove information that it said harmed national security and social order. Cai Qi has also demanded that local news media publish columns dedicated to party congress propaganda. He said “Carefully studying, widely propagating and fully implementing the spirit of the party’s 19th National Congress ... are our top political tasks in the coming period. [We need to] unify the thoughts and actions of all Beijing people into the spirit of the meeting.”
Petitioners who file complaints against the government, often by travelling to Beijing, have been put under close watch. In the southern city of Haikou, for example, security authorities were told on Tuesday to prevent group petitions and stop aggrieved citizens from going to the capital to make their cases. And in Xiafan town in Jiangxi province, officials have been conducting a thorough check on petitioners, pledging strict measures to keep them at home, according to local media.
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