This year marks the 36th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s creation of the “June 4th” incident. Despite financial difficulties in various regions of China, authorities remain on high alert on sensitive days, with no reduction in stability maintenance efforts. Human rights activists and dissidents once again face restrictions on their personal freedom.
In the early hours of June 4, 1989, the Chinese military brutally suppressed the students and citizens calling for democracy in Tiananmen Square, resulting in a large number of casualties. This event, known as the “June 4 Tiananmen Incident,” has since made the anniversary of June 4 a sensitive day for the Chinese Communist Party, with many dissidents being “taken on trips” or “invited for tea” to control their personal freedom.
The Chinese Communist Party never relaxes its surveillance of dissidents, especially on sensitive days. Liang Ming (pseudonym), a resident of Beijing, told Dajiyuan, “They are coming for me soon, they should take me away, anyway, they have to take someone out for a day. Today, many of my friends have been taken away, Ma Xinli, Li Xuehui, all taken away. They may not come back today, but they will come back tomorrow.”
Liang Ming added, “Now there is no money left in the budget, local governments are finding ways to make money, and the cost of stability maintenance has become a profitable item. They might treat this as a project, apply for some expenses, and allocate funds for it every year. Now no leader dares to take on this responsibility. If you don’t give them money to keep an eye on these people, once something happens, no one can bear the responsibility. So, every year, funds are allocated as usual, and people are kept under control to maintain stability.”
Veteran media personality Gao Yu wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) last week, “As the day of the June 4th commemoration approaches day by day, domestic national security and public security have been mobilized, of course, on high alert, with silence prevailing on the internet, not a word can be uttered.” A day later, Gao posted again, saying, “Today, posting is no longer possible, goodbye, Twitter friends!”
A Beijing resident, Mr. Long, told Dajiyuan, “Three or five days ago, I passed by Tiananmen Square. When I was on the subway, I was checked for identification many times. When I transferred from one subway line to another, the police checked for identification, especially within the Second Ring Road, Tiananmen Square, and Wangfujing area. It has been like this all the time, as if facing a major enemy.”
“Not only near Tiananmen Square, but surveillance measures have also been intensified in the outskirts of Beijing,” Mr. Long said, “Taking a bus from Yanshou, Hebei into Beijing, at this checkpoint, every passenger has to get off and undergo identity checks and code scanning. When we drive out to other places and return, every person has to show their ID for inspection, continuously, and now it’s even stricter and tighter.”
“The trade war has collapsed China’s economy, foreign investment has withdrawn, many factories have closed down, and the finances are very tight, yet the annual cost of stability maintenance remains alarmingly high.” Mr. Long explained further, “In order to maintain its own ruling position, the Chinese Communist Party invests a considerable amount of funds each year during its conferences and sensitive periods, nurturing a large number of stability maintenance personnel, just to silence the people and prevent them from knowing the truth. If you want to know the truth, you are already treading the path of crime.”