China launches security campaign for anniversary

BEIJING — China announced plans Tuesday to ramp up public security ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Communist nation, after a similar campaign last year for the Olympic Games.

The security campaign, which starts in May, is aimed at ensuring “a steady and harmonious social environment” for celebrations slated for Oct. 1, said Vice Minister of Public Security Zhang Xinfeng, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The anniversary marks a major milestone for China’s government, which is planning large celebrations including a grand military parade in the center of Beijing.

Police across the country will focus on maintaining social order, cracking down on criminal gangs, and tracking wanted criminals, Zhang said. Robberies and theft must be curbed, he said, as well as fraudulent “phone scams” widely reported by the public.

Local officials will also tackle criminal activities widespread in their respective regions, and step up security efforts, he said.

A similar security campaign was imposed ahead of the Olympics last summer. In the months leading up to the August games, China enacted a wide-ranging campaign that included exhaustive security checks at hotels and residential areas along with visa restrictions that severely limited the number of foreigners who could visit or work in the country.

This year also saw security clampdowns and travel bans in Tibet and the restive Western region of Xinjiang, which both have politically sensitive anniversaries. In March came the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule as well as the one-year anniversary of violent riots in the capital of Lhasa. In Xinjiang, a separatist movement has taken root among ethnic minority Uighurs who have long chafed under Beijing’s rule and restrictions on religion.

The Communist government has also urged local officials to “carry out in-depth patriotic educational activities” among the public centering around the anniversary.

A document drafted by the Central Committee’s publicity department said the activities are of “of vital importance in supporting morale and boosting confidence in overcoming difficulties,” Xinhua said.

Activities “should guide people to love the Party” and recognize the achievements made in the past six decades, Xinhua said. The public should be made “aware of the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and give them a correct understanding of China’s basic conditions at present, the document said.

China is facing a host of social and economic challenges this year, including a global downturn that has already resulted in the loss of jobs for more than 20 million migrant workers in the country.