With Halloween approaching, the security measures in Shanghai have begun to escalate. There are reports indicating that the police have requested a ban on “cosplayers” appearing on that day. Last year in Shanghai during Halloween, there were many cosplays that mocked current affairs, including a Winnie the Pooh character mocking Xi Jinping.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia on the 18th, Shanghai police have intensified security measures on the eve of Halloween, especially in the Huangpu District, strictly controlling costumes and elements related to Halloween.
An internal notice from the street office in Huangpu District mentioned that the police have requested a ban on “cosplayers” appearing on Halloween, and once discovered, they will immediately be discouraged and dealt with.
Many young Chinese netizens have been discussing Halloween celebrations in Shanghai on social media.
A resident named Ma from the Huangpu District of Shanghai told Radio Free Asia, “The police have issued an internal notice: ‘Shanghai has issued a notice in advance, prohibiting various costumes such as bats, skeletons, and forbidding dressing up in these seemingly terrifying images. The notice has been issued, and they should first persuade those in costume. If they don’t listen, then enforcement will be taken.'”
It is reported that this year, the police will follow the principle of “whoever is found, will be taken away and forced to remove their makeup,” to ensure that no costumes that violate the rules will appear in the streets.
Furthermore, both online and offline Halloween promotional activities are also under strict restrictions, explicitly prohibiting the use of the words “Halloween” and related elements.
Ma said, “The control on ideological matters is becoming tighter, but young people have always had a rebellious mentality. The more you try to control them, the more they want to experiment.”
The report mentioned that the Chinese Communist Party is currently strengthening social management and controlling public opinion on the Internet. Many holidays or events related to Western culture are also facing stricter supervision and restrictions, and the control over Halloween embodies this trend.
Under the harsh suppression of freedom of speech by the Chinese Communist Party, very few Chinese people openly criticize the government’s policies. However, under the watchful eyes of the police, the Halloween celebrations in Shanghai on October 31 last year were a rare display of “freedom of speech.” Young people in Shanghai gathered in areas like Julu Road, dressed in various bizarre costumes. Some wore surveillance camera models on their heads, clearly mocking the omnipresent surveillance system of the CCP; some dressed up as bruised and swollen programmers, representing the exploded tech industry; there were even individuals holding signs with the words “Even when far away, we will retaliate,” mocking the CCP wolf warrior diplomacy…
Some people dressed up as Winnie the Pooh dancing, and there were costumes of emperors on inspection tours, clearly mocking Xi Jinping.
Due to the dismal performance of the Chinese stock market, some held banners with the Shanghai Stock Exchange index and carried a bunch of “leeks,” in a mocking gesture towards the official practice of “shearing leeks”; there were even characters from the film “Farewell My Concubine,” which was suppressed during the Cultural Revolution, with a sign hanging on their chest that read “Down with Cheng Dieyi.”
Young people also dressed as “Lu Xun,” standing on the street, giving loud speeches, encouraging young people to speak up, until the police drove him away.
A video clip showed two people dressed as “Baymax” being taken away by the police from the event venue. Some participants had white paper stickers on their clothes, a significant symbol of the previous year’s protest movement (the White Paper Movement).
On the evening of November 24, 2022, a major fire broke out in the Ji Xiang Yuan neighborhood in Tianshan District, Urumqi, Xinjiang, resulting in 10 deaths and 9 injuries. At the end of November 2022, Shanghai experienced a historic protest against the strict “zero-COVID” measures. In Shanghai on Wulumuqi Middle Road, angry crowds chanted slogans such as “Xi Jinping step down” and “Down with the Communist Party.” The protest later spread to several cities, and it was seen as a triggering factor for the sudden cancellation of the policy by the CCP authorities in December of that year.