Officials To Strengthen Security Before Anniversaries and During Economic Downturns

February 1, 2009

Chinese officials have warned of increasing "social unrest" in 2009 and have called for strengthening public security in the run-up to several significant anniversaries and amid the country's economic downturn. Security officials reportedly plan to use the "valuable" and "successful" experience of security measures deployed during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games to increase security controls in 2009, according to a January 6 People's Daily article and a January 13 South China Morning Post report (subscription required).

Chinese officials have warned of increasing "social unrest" in 2009 and have called for strengthening public security in the run-up to several significant anniversaries and amid the country's economic downturn. Security officials reportedly plan to use the "valuable" and "successful" experience of security measures deployed during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games to increase security controls in 2009, according to a January 6 People's Daily article and a January 13 South China Morning Post report (subscription required). Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu called on public security officials to acknowledge the "grave challenge of maintaining national security and social stability" ahead of the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in October this year, as reported in the People's Daily article. Chen Jiping, director of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security, was quoted in an interview with the state-run magazine Outlook Weekly as saying that authorities will deploy new measures such as a neighborhood watch program and the creation of special departments modeled on those used during the Olympics that mobilized and used volunteers to help police maintain public order, according to the South China Morning Post report.

In addition to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in October, 2009 also marks several sensitive anniversaries, including the 50th anniversary of the March 10, 1959, Lhasa uprising, and the 20th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, peaceful democracy protest at the Tianamen Square. A January 6 Associated Press report writes that "opponents of the authoritarian regime could seize on [anniversaries] as symbolically rich opportunities to stage demonstrations or issue calls for political reform." The Chinese government and Communist Party have used campaigns to strengthen security measures and crack down on "social unrest" and dissent in the name of maintaining social stability during other "sensitive" times, including most recently before and during the Beijing Olympics and during the Olympic torch relay. (See the Preface of the CECC 2008 Annual Report and a previous CECC analysis for more information.)

The recent high-level official statements on maintaining "social stability" also come at a time when official statistics paint a grim economic picture and as the media and government officials have warned of potential mass protests resulting from high unemployment rates and increasing social discontent. Reuters reported on December 17, 2008, that up to 1.5 million graduates may face difficulty finding employment in 2009, that at least 4 million unemployed migrant workers have left cities to find jobs in large towns or counties, and that the urban unemployment rate is at 9.4 percent, according to estimates by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The first issue of the Outlook Weekly in 2009 also reported that nearly 10 million migrant workers have lost their jobs, according to an estimate by China's National Bureau of Statistics. The same article said the economic downturn has led to greater social instability, including increasing incidents of unemployment-related labor disputes, land disputes, "highly sensitive" taxi strikes, and financial crimes. The article said experts have called for "proper handling" of mass incidents through prevention and mediation, to "keep conflict resolution at the local level," to "solve problems locally," and to "eliminate hidden danger at the initial stage."

For more discussion on "social instability" and "social unrest," see the Preface and General Overview in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2008 Annual Report.