【MSNBC】It’s party time in Beijing – and only some are invited

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It’s party time in Beijing – and only some are invited

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/14/2068376.aspx


Posted:         Monday, September 14, 2009 2:56 PM
Filed Under:         Beijing, China  
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer

BEIJING – After a short summer break, I returned to Beijing to find the city under siege.

At least that’s how it looks these days – twoweeks before the National Holiday on Oct. 1 to mark the 60thanniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

As I rode through central Beijing over theweekend, an armored vehicle was poised on the corner of theDongsishitiao roundabout. A soldier was sitting on top of it, wearing abalaclava and with a machine gun at the ready. Pedestrians stopped,stared, and then took photos with their cell phones.

Police checkpoints now ring Beijing’soutskirts, monitoring traffic from the surrounding provinces andinspecting vehicles entering the capital. Busloads of troops have beenunloading around the city. And jets screamed across a beautifully clearsky over Tiananmen Square on Saturday morning.

Adrienne Mong / NBC News
With increased security in Beijing, some officials who are new to the city try to find their bearings.

The square itself, the Forbidden City oppositeit, and the major road arteries flowing south of Chang'an Avenue –which bisects the capital – were all closed to the public this pastweekend.

What sounded like half-hearted fireworkssputtered through the late evening near the Workers' Stadium, but withthe high visibility of soldiers and police, you’d be forgiven forthinking it was gunfire.


A party for the Party

In short, authorities here are taking no chances.

After all, it’s a big anniversary. It’sespecially significant because in Chinese culture sixtiethanniversaries are a big milestone – their significance is equivalent tothat of a centennial elsewhere.

But anyone under the impression the celebrationis for the people might want to think again.  This is a party for theparty – the Chinese Communist Party.  

For one, the general public won't be allowedanywhere near the big event – a massive parade showcasing China'smilitary might, the likes of which are not seen around the world thesedays (except for North Korea). While attendance will be seriouslyrestricted, the highly choreographed event will of course be broadcaston China’s state TV.


Ng Han Guan / AP file
Chinese soldiers are drilled on Sept. 10 inpreparation for a militaryparade planned for the 60th anniversary ofthe founding of the People'sRepublic on Oct. 1.

I tried to get an impression of the event tocome. Cycling past the Forbidden City on Saturday afternoon, I couldsee reviewing stands, presumably for the leadership, outside the Gateof Heavenly Peace (the front entrance of the Imperial City where MaoZedong’s iconic portrait hangs).

Meanwhile, a huge video monitor loomed acrossthe street, and crowds of people dressed in uniform walked in and outof Tiananmen Square. Traffic barriers lined Chang’An Avenue. Securitycheckpoints have sprung up on strategic corners. Police waved me awayfrom the south side of the street; they waved me away from stopping onmy bicycle; and waved at me to stop taking photographs.

Even more forbiddingly, residents are being restricted in their very own homes.  

At diplomatic compounds overlooking the roadthat becomes Chang’An Avenue, property management offices have sent outfliers asking residents not to invite friends into the area betweenSept. 30 and midnight on Oct. 1; not to open windows or balcony doorsfacing Chang’An during the same period; and not to stand on the balconyto watch the ceremony on Oct. 1.

And for several weekends running now, residentshave found themselves trapped in certain parts of the city, unable tocross town because of roadblocks. Several friends told me stories aboutbeing stranded overnight one weekend when they couldn’t get acrossChang’An Avenue to get home.

Which makes it all the more ironic that one ofthe 50 Party-approved slogans marking the 60th anniversary says: "Putpeople first, realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interestsof the overwhelming majority of the people!"


Adrienne Mong / NBC News
A checkpoint set up on Chang'An Jie, or the Avenue of Long Peace, leading up to Beijing's Tiananmen Square.  


The new normal?

It might seem astretch, but it’s hard not to wonder how much all of this might become"situation normal." Before last summer’s Olympics, authorities put intoplace several security measures that have endured long after the gameshave ended. Some of them were for the "safety" of Beijing residents,but many of them came into being soon after the March 2008 unrest inTibet.  

Bags are still being x-rayed at subwayentrances. Tiananmen Square is still fenced off and visitors must walkthrough a metal detector and a bag search before entering the area. Police still conduct random ID checks at people’s homes. And afteryears of laxness, the guards in diplomatic compounds, like the one thathouses the NBC News bureau, are still persnickety about checkingChinese ID cards.

Not to mention the general crackdown ondissent. Although a prominent activist lawyer, Xu Zhiyong, was recentlyreleased on bail, critics of a wide-ranging number of issues have beenrounded up during the past year. And YouTube, social networking siteslike Facebook and Twitter, and Chinese-language blog sites likeBullog.net all remain shuttered.  

All a far cry from 18 months or so ago whenoptimists crowed that the Beijing 2008 Olympics would usher in a newera of openness in China and argued that the tightening politicalclimate was temporary – just a blip, as it were, that would ensure asmooth Summer Games.  

Others have observed that 2009 is full ofdifficult, troubling anniversaries – March 14 (the one year anniversaryof the Tibet unrest), June 4 (the 20th anniversary of the 1989Tiananmen Square crackdown), and  October 1 (the 60th anniversary ofthe founding of the People’s Republic) – and that government officialsare trying to minimize the potential for unrest or open dissent.

But what if this isn’t a blip? What if this is the new normal?

I’m flying off to Afghanistan for a month-long assignment. We’ll see if the barricades are gone by the time I return.

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