During the 35th anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen Square incident, dissenters were taken away by the Chinese Communist authorities for “travel” or placed under surveillance. However, the days of “stability maintenance” have been reduced from the usual ten days to one week. The public has expressed that this is due to a decrease in government fiscal revenue and a shortage of official funds.
On June 5th, Radio Free Asia reported that due to financial constraints, local governments in various regions under the control of the Chinese Communist Party have shortened the period of dissenters being taken for “travel” or placed under surveillance during the 35th anniversary of the June 4th incident from ten days to one week.
The report stated that starting from last year, the central government of the Chinese Communist Party had ceased issuing funds for “stability maintenance,” leaving grassroots governments to shoulder the cost of “stability maintenance” themselves. Local public security authorities have compressed the period of “stability maintenance” to address the issue of insufficient funds. For example, in Beijing, the original ten-day period has been reduced to seven days this year, from May 30th to June 5th.
A dissenter escorted for “travel” by the police in Beijing said that the city of Beijing has set a uniform rule that those taken to the outskirts of Beijing must return on the 5th day, or on the 6th day in special circumstances, while those taken to other provinces can only return to Beijing on the 7th day due to taking the train. “This year they ran out of money. Even the police have had their salaries cut, so the funding for stability maintenance must have been reduced.”
Several dissenters in Hunan stated on the 5th that they were verbally informed by the police that they would be relieved from surveillance within one or two days. They were asked to send their location through their mobile phones or take a selfie at home to the local police station. “The police are not coming out now. They are short-handed and can’t afford security guards.”
Mr. Ge, an internet user from Hubei, said that the central government had stopped disbursing related funds, and local “stability maintenance” funds are now managed by street offices, leading to situations like shortened surveillance periods.
Previously, Radio Free Asia reported that many dissenters who had been taken out for “travel” in previous years were this year only placed under surveillance at home due to budget issues.
A member of a seminar in Guizhou, who requested anonymity and has the surname Huang, stated that more than ten individuals, including Chen Xi, Liao Shuangyuan, Huang Yanming, and Zeng Ning, were under house arrest. He said, “The government really has no money. There is a shortage of public security funding. We used to go to resorts in the suburbs, but now we just stay at home under surveillance.”
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