"Maintaining Social Stability"

[Randy W]

from Al Jazeera

 

 

China launches political policing task force: State media

• New agency established on the same day that a Beijing law professor and outspoken critic of Xi Jinping was detained.

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The government said it can only guarantee people's safety if it maintains a stable political environment [File: Greg Baker/AFP]

 

China has launched a special task force to ramp up political policing to maintain social stability, according to the official Procuratorial Daily. It is latest move to rein in dissent over Beijing's handling of the coronavirus and protests in Hong Kong.

 

The task force should "crack down on all kinds of infiltration, subversion, sabotage, violent terrorist activities, ethnic separatist activities, and extreme religious activities," it said, citing undated notes from a meeting of the task force.

 

The news of the task force came on the same day that a Beijing law professor who has been an outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party and President Xi Jinping was taken away by authorities.

 

The main responsibility of the task force is to safeguard China's political system. "Political security is related to national safety and people's well-being," according to the notes.

 

Referencing the fight against coronavirus, the notes said a government can only guarantee its people's safety if it maintains a stable political environment.