The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently introduced a draft for the establishment of a “National Web ID Card” system and began its trial implementation, sparking widespread backlash. Experts have pointed out that the CCP’s move reflects its authoritarian paranoia, believing that such measures can ensure its own safety, but in reality, it may backfire on the regime.
The “Public Service Management Measures for National Network Identity Authentication (Draft for Solicitation of Opinions)” jointly launched by the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security and Cyberspace Administration was made public on July 26th. It requires internet users to register their real identities to obtain unified “web IDs” and “web cards,” claiming it to be voluntary. While the draft is open for public feedback until August 25th, the internet identity authentication app has already started appearing on multiple app stores.
With China already having strict internet censorship and surveillance mechanisms in place, concerns arise that the use of the “web cards” could intensify identity screenings and further violate human rights. However, dissenting voices have been silenced by the authorities.
On August 12th, Professor Pei Minxin from Claremont McKenna College (CMC) wrote in Bloomberg that the timing of this policy rollout indicates the CCP’s heightened fear of potential social unrest amid economic downturn, reflecting the insecurity of Xi Jinping’s regime. He described it as a characteristic paranoia of authoritarian regimes.
“Excessive insecurity often drives them to implement strict social control measures to ensure their own safety. However, paradoxically, policies aimed at protecting dictators from harm by their own people can sometimes have the opposite effect.”
The article argues that the new digital identity system implemented by the authorities will not truly provide institutional security but instead harm themselves. “First, it is unlikely to deter those most determined to maintain anonymous access to the internet,” the article stated, noting that this group is often better educated, wealthier, and more politically conscious. They typically use virtual private networks or VPNs to bypass the “Great Firewall,” making it more challenging for the CCP to track their activities.
Furthermore, these regulations may have the most significant impact on ordinary people, who will now have to self-censor online. The public expression of dissent online will decrease, yet the CCP fails to address the underlying reasons behind people’s discontent, such as unemployment and official corruption.
The article believes that originally, posting comments online was a low-cost way of venting frustrations. If the new regulations shut down this outlet, people may resort to more destructive forms of protest, such as petitions and demonstrations, putting the CCP in a more embarrassing and unstable position.
Pei Minxin also mentioned that these regulations will, in turn, deprive the government of sources of information. Previously, the top echelons of the CCP could use the internet to access true information about potential social and economic problems that subordinates often hide from them, allowing authorities to proactively implement policies and responses. With less information gathered through the internet, “CCP rulers are flying blind and making more mistakes.”
In conclusion, implementing a web ID system actually brings more harm than benefits to the CCP. However, paranoid authoritarian regimes tend to embrace self-destructive policies in pursuit of absolute political security.
Commentator Pu Huangyu also wrote for Voice of America on August 9th, stating that under the CCP’s drive to prioritize safety while maintaining a viable economy and the appearance of continuing reforms, pursuing multiple conflicting goals is fundamentally unachievable and goes unnoticed by the top echelon. This leads to security concerns overpowering everything within bureaucratic institutions, where security agencies prioritize their own existence and power expansion, disregarding the social and economic sectors and goals.
Recently, several mainland Chinese scholars who have spoken out against the CCP’s implementation of the web ID system, including Tsinghua University Law Professor Lao Dongyan, mainland sociologist Yu Jianjiang, Deputy Dean of Peking University Law School Shen Kui, and Tsinghua University Professor Huang Yusheng, have questioned the system. However, their remarks have been deleted, with Huang Yusheng’s Weibo account permanently banned, and Lao Dongyan facing a Cultural Revolution-style online attack, being labeled as a “traitor public intellectual.”
On August 8th, Associate Professor Chen Shimin of the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University stated to The Epoch Times that with the CCP implementing web IDs and web cards, ordinary people will have nowhere to seek redress. Their right to access the internet is also being stripped away, and people will find various ways, such as networking, leading to potential events akin to the Bangladesh coup, ultimately resulting in the overturning of those in power.