From “stability maintenance informants” to “community workers,” the Chinese Communist authorities’ collection and supervision of grassroots people’s information continue to escalate. According to disclosures from community workers, their job duties not only involve “stability maintenance” but also include many “unsavory aspects.”
The General Office of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council recently issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Community Workers.” Officials from the Communist Party’s Central Organization Department and other departments, when answering questions from reporters, emphasized the need for community workers to “wholeheartedly help the masses solve problems and difficulties.”
Regarding the evolution of community workers, Li Jing from Jiangsu Province recently told Voice of America that during the pandemic, they were called grid workers, performing tasks similar to those of neighborhood committees in the past. Now they are called community workers, occupying a specialized position. The community workers visiting her home are all young, and their questions are detailed.
The first community workers Li Jing encountered were two young women who appeared to have recently graduated from university. They had forms and systematically asked how many people lived in her home, how many resided at that address, what they did, where those who didn’t live there currently were, and what they were doing.
She mentioned that her son had graduated from university over a decade ago and went to study in the United States. Although his household registration had not been transferred, he had already settled in the United States. At that time, they did not press for more details, but soon after, they returned, inquiring extensively about which university her son was studying at in the US, where he was currently employed, his occupation, and the number of people in his US household.
Li Jing regretted mentioning that her son had recently gotten married, with his wife being a Taiwanese immigrant living in the United States. “After hearing this, they exchanged glances, and then they took many notes. I later told my son that I shouldn’t have disclosed so many details about his work and marriage.”
She suspected that her son, who works at a tech giant in the US, and his Taiwanese daughter-in-law back in Taiwan made her a key focus for community workers. “The community workers don’t visit as frequently to my friends in the same city. If we are not home when they come, they leave a note requesting us to call them back for an appointment for another visit.”
Han Yue, a community worker in Qingdao, Shandong Province, mentioned that overseas relationships are indeed a part of his job responsibilities that require attention. Han Yue described his work as “very fragmented.” Apart from focusing on the overseas relationships of community residents, paying visits to homes where long-term overseas residents are staying is also a significant focal point.
Han Yue heard that community workers from other areas also need to pay attention to ethnic minority residents. He also learned that residents from some communities, who have been owed wages for a long time, take to various online platforms to report, complain, or even petition. Community workers are required to visit to understand the situation, provide reassurance, and report to higher authorities. However, he personally has not encountered such situations.
Additionally, Han Yue’s work involves many unsavory aspects. “For example, sweeping the floor, picking up trash, especially during the campaign to create a civilized city last year,” he said. “There are also various trivial matters between residents that need to be resolved, such as neighbor disputes.”
In March of this year, the State Council of the CCP issued a notice on the “Action Plan to Promote Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-In.” Many netizens shared instances of community workers inspecting residents’ refrigerators, TVs, washing machines, microwaves, air conditioners, water heaters, and even electric fans for their usage lifespan.
Han Yue mentioned that he has not received requests for such inspections yet. However, many of his tasks are closely tied to current events. When overseas telephone fraud is rampant, he needs to visit homes to ask residents to install anti-fraud apps and educate them not to answer calls from overseas numbers.
In reality, the recruitment of a large number of personnel by the Chinese Communist authorities for information gathering and stability maintenance at the grassroots level is not a new occurrence. As early as 2018, the concept of “stability maintenance informants” emerged. At that time, many residential committees in Beijing posted notices recruiting politically sensitive permanent residents as community stability informants at the request of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government.
By 2023, food delivery drivers were recruited as “micro-grid workers.” An official website in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, wrote: “We encourage food delivery drivers to become the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of the community, reporting safety hazards and other issues found on the streets through ‘mobile micro-grid’ WeChat groups, phone calls, and other means, and promptly conveying them to the streets and communities.”
Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, shared his book “The Sentinel State” during an event at the University of California, San Diego on April 18, where he detailed how the Chinese Communist surveillance system operates.
Pei mentioned an important point that although China has Skynet, an extremely advanced video surveillance system built using big data, artificial intelligence, and other high-tech systems, the true monitoring ability of the Chinese state comes from a complex monitoring organization and a large number of surveillance personnel involved. These surveillance personnel, including the part-time “stability maintenance informants” and food delivery drivers, form a vast intelligence network, collecting information in various places such as enterprises, universities, and communities, to pass messages to different government departments.