Communists Ban Crime and Disasters

(Radio Free Asia)  -  The ruling Chinese Communist Party has issued orders to local officials and law enforcement banning the occurrence of any major crimes, including acts of terrorism or extreme acts of personal violence, and any mass gathering of people, including petitioners heading to Beijing to complain about the government.

The move comes as President Xi Jinping seeks to silence dissent ahead of the 19th Party Congress, consolidating his power as a "core" leader of the party in the tradition of late supreme leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

An unsigned directive sent to neighborhood committees around the country identifies the three biggest threats to a successful Party Congress as any mass gathering of people "having nationwide impact," a terror attack, and any incident involving public safety.

Activist Tan Aijun was blocked tying to enter Hong Kong and told he had
been slapped with a travel ban because he was a "threat to national security."

The notice calls on local officials and security teams to "take strict steps to prevent any major event having a major impact on political stability."

Such events might include "mass incidents involving petitioners coming to Beijing," the notice said, in a reference to potential protests like those organized in recent months by thousands veterans of the People's Liberation Army outside government buildings in the capital.

Fire disasters involving large loss of life and injury or major transportation accidents are also cited as potential threats to stability, the notice warned.

Authorities across China must also be on the lookout for potential acts of terrorism or "individual extreme violence," the notice said.

Beijing-based democracy activist Zha Jianguo said the clampdown means close surveillance by state security police for any critics of the regime ahead of the Party Congress, which is expected in October.

"The 19th Party Congress is the biggest political event in mainland China this year, and therefore the most sensitive time of all," Zha said.

He said the state security police recently intervened to prevent around 10 of his friends from gathering in a Beijing restaurant to mark his birthday.

"They were stopped from coming, and they took me away [out of town]," Zha said. "They wouldn't allow me to be in Beijing on that day."

"During our 'chats' on that day, they mentioned the 19th Party Congress in October," he said. "The police asked me where I wanted to go on vacation during the 19th Party Congress."

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