During the Chinese Communist Party’s “Two Sessions,” comprehensive stability maintenance measures have been implemented across various regions. Reports indicate that Beibei District in Chongqing has installed 27,900 video devices and 245 sensing devices within its jurisdiction, with over ten thousand grid personnel in the entire district. Earlier, the Xiamen government launched a “neighborhood supervision” model, where neighbors are encouraged to monitor and report on each other, drawing criticism for resembling the tactics of the Cultural Revolution.
According to the Chongqing Daily on March 10 (Monday), Lin Xuyang, a National People’s Congress delegate and Party secretary of Beibei District, disclosed that they have fully integrated 27,900 video devices and 245 sensing devices, establishing strong data collection and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Beibei District has also launched 93 cross-regional, cross-village, and cross-grid dispatch command systems. It is claimed that since the system’s deployment, over 550,000 incidents and 1.08 million tasks have been processed, with a task processing rate of up to 100%. The specific areas involved in the 550,000 incidents have not been revealed by officials.
As reported by Radio Free Asia, a former employee surnamed Yang from a community in Chongqing revealed that most of the cameras mentioned by the Party secretary of Beibei District are used to monitor residents’ activities in neighborhoods, passersby on the streets, gatherings of churchgoers, and activities related to safeguarding citizens’ rights. He stated, “These surveillance cameras have long been in place, officially referred to as the ‘Sky Net,’ and in rural areas, it’s known as the ‘Bright Vision Project,’ aiming to monitor every corner and expose every move of the citizens.”
China has become the world’s largest surveillance technology market. In 2019, research firm IHS Markit stated that three-quarters of servers used to search for faces in video footage globally were purchased by the Chinese Communist Party.
According to reports from official media in Chongqing, Lin Xuyang, Party secretary of Beibei District, also mentioned the establishment of a strong grid governance team called “1+3+N” (grid leader + full-time grid personnel, part-time grid personnel, grid instructors + other various types of forces), totaling 4,218 “one leader and three personnel,” coordinating more than 10,000 resources for the grid, including Party member volunteers and various personnel from new employment groups.
Grid personnel are stability maintenance personnel widely utilized by the Chinese Communist Party in grassroots communities in recent years. In November 2024, the Central Social Work Conference of the Chinese Communist Party was held for the first time. The newly established Social Work Department in 2023, a massive organization stretching from Beijing to the entire country, has been called by external scholars as a “totalitarian patch.”
Various regions have recently been employing tactics to strengthen surveillance efforts.
Previously, Chinese state media reported that Tong’an District in Xiamen had established “neighborhood supervision” studios in 11 towns, 144 villages, and employed some residents as “neighborhood supervisors” to monitor the actions of people around them. In May 2023, Tong’an District of Xiamen already had 307 “neighborhood supervisors” officially in position.
Some netizens commented that this resembles the “Xiaoyang Da Ma of Xiamen version” or the “folk Jin Yiwei organization,” infringing on privacy rights.
A netizen named Lao Wan from Henan province told Radio Free Asia that this is due to grid personnel being owed wages, leading to many grid personnel in various areas being forced to resign. Therefore, grassroots governments are coming up with new contingency methods to reduce administrative and governance costs by mobilizing the masses and tapping into the power of the public. Many idle elderly women and men, like the “Xiaoyang Da Ma,” who friendly interact with you as neighbors, are actually scrutinizing your every move, which is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.
As China’s economy slows down and local finances tighten, incidents of grid personnel being owed wages by street offices have been frequently reported. For instance, about 700 to 800 grid personnel in Hanjiang District of Putian City in Fujian Province have been owed half a year’s worth of wages, while community grid personnel and social workers in Linyi City in Shandong Province have also reported not receiving their wages.
Current affairs commentator Xing Tianxing told NTD that since the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party, they have always feared instability of their regime, thus engaging in internal and external struggles. However, many people are not buying into their tactics, and such actions only serve to further alienate the public from the Communist regime. Once the Chinese people reach their limits with the various surveillance methods employed by the CCP, it may expedite a change in public sentiment, serving as an opportunity for people to truly grasp the nature of the Communist regime.