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Social Stability

Chinese Police Begin Using AI-Powered Smart Glasses

A video circulating on Chinese social media shows police officers in Tianjin patrolling the streets while wearing AI-enabled smart glasses. The footage demonstrates that the devices can not only recognize people’s identities and vehicle information by connecting to police databases in real time, but also analyze facial expressions and raise alerts.

In one segment, the glasses display details such as green identification frames, scanning prompts, and progress bars. Another clip shows pedestrians at a subway station labeled with “abnormal” expressions, alongside their names and partial ID numbers.

An IT professional in Shenzhen told reporters that these devices are intended for street surveillance and data collection. He noted that experiments with similar technology began as early as 2018 in cities like Beijing and Xi’an, but deployment has accelerated significantly in recent years.

Source: Epoch Times, December 11, 2025
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/25/12/11/n14653185.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics Social Stability

China Announces Mandates of National Real-Name Registration and Identification of Civilian Drones

China’s market regulator has issued two mandatory national standards for civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), focusing on real-name registration, activation, and operational identification. Under the new rules, all civilian drones in China must display registration information and complete real-name registration and activation before they can be flown. The standards also require drones to continuously broadcast identity, position, speed, and status data during flight to ensure full visibility and regulatory oversight.

The regulations mandate additional technical requirements, including anti-tampering protections for identification systems and the storage of flight data for at least 120 flight hours. Drones will be prohibited from flying if their identification systems are not functioning properly.

Both standards will take effect on May 1 next year, with transition periods for existing drones and manufacturers. Producers must upgrade older models within 12 months, while previously sold drones will have a 36-month transition period to meet the new requirements. After this period, non-compliant drones will be banned from operation. Authorities also plan to implement product certification and enforce penalties against non-compliant manufacturing and sales.

Source: Huanqiu Times, December 9, 2025
https://uav.huanqiu.com/article/4PTwtDoP9tG

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology Social Stability

Anti-CCP Party Calls for Seizing Illicit Wealth of Corrupt Officials

According to sources within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China’s Ministry of Public Security submitted an internal report to the CCP Secretariat on November 20, 2025. The Secretariat subsequently circulated the report to provincial-level authorities.

The report states that a hostile document—issued in the name of the “Recover China Party Beijing–Tianjin Special Branch”—has recently circulated across more than ten major cities and dozens of towns.

The document, titled “During the 2026 Chinese New Year: Seize the Illicit Wealth of CCP Corrupt Officials to Support People’s Livelihoods and Build Momentum for a Popular Uprising,” calls for confiscating corrupt officials’ hidden assets during the holiday period. It asserts that while some officials now store bribes in cryptocurrency, most still keep illicit cash in their own homes or those of relatives or mistresses—and that they would never dare report stolen bribes to the police.

Invoking the classic trope of outlaws taking from corrupt officials, the document frames such actions as a righteous effort to support ordinary people and build momentum for resistance against the CCP. Suggested targets include corrupt officials as well as business figures who collude with them.

It urges nearly 300 million migrant workers returning home for the Spring Festival, along with unemployed university graduates, to respond actively to this call.

Source: Secret China, December 8, 2025
https://www.secretchina.com/news/gb/2025/12/08/1091748.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics Social Stability

Record Competition in China’s 2026 Civil Service Exam — 74 Applicants Per Position

Amid a slowing economy, many Chinese citizens are turning to government positions in search of security and reliable income. Civil service jobs, long regarded as a stable and prestigious career path, are now more fiercely pursued than ever.

The public written exam for the 2026 national civil service recruitment, covering central government agencies and directly affiliated institutions, was held on November 30 in 250 cities across 31 provinces. A total of 2.831 million people sat for the exam, competing for just 38,100 openings — an average of 74 candidates for every position.

Over the past several years, civil service recruitment numbers had grown steadily, increasing from 14,500 positions in 2019 to 39,700 in 2025. This year, however, marks the first contraction in years, with openings reduced by about 1,600 positions. In contrast, the number of applicants reached a historic high, intensifying competition to an unprecedented level.

One of the most competitive postings was the “First-Level Police Chief and Below (XIII)” position at the Ruili Repatriation Center under the National Immigration Administration. With 6,470 applicants vying for a single slot, it stood out as one of the most sought-after posts in the exam.

Sources:
1. People’s Daily, November 30, 2025
http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2025/1130/c1008-40614425.html
2. Epoch Times, November 30, 2025
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/25/11/30/n14645884.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability

Analysis: Chinese Migrant Workers May Revolt if They Experience Poverty En Masse

The Epoch Times reports that China is experiencing an unusually early wave of migrant workers returning to their hometowns – months before the Lunar New Year – reflecting widespread job losses and a deepening economic downturn. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has urgently instructed local governments to prevent a “large-scale return to poverty” and to ensure that those previously lifted out of poverty do not become stranded in rural areas without income. Analysts say this early mobilization underscores the authorities’ awareness of the severity of the unemployment crisis facing China’s nearly 300 million migrant workers.

Experts argue that the problem is rooted in long-standing structural issues: migrant workers were never granted full urban residency rights or social benefits, while rural economies remain chronically depleted. With limited job opportunities in both cities and the countryside, official initiatives are widely viewed as superficial and incapable of addressing the underlying causes.

Some analysts warn that a mass return to poverty among migrant workers could pose a significant political risk. Today’s migrant laborers are more skilled, more informed, and more conscious of systemic injustice; in moments of extreme desperation, they may organize resistance—potentially threatening the stability of the communist regime.

Source: Epoch Times, November 20, 2025
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/25/11/18/n14638607.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources Social Stability

Members of Chinese Zion Church Arrested Amid Escalating Religious Crackdown

Eighteen pastors and members of China’s Zion Church have been formally arrested, marking the latest casualties in the government’s suppression of urban house churches. Religious observers report that 2025 has brought noticeably tighter religious policies, with increased arrests, interrogations of church personnel, and new regulations making faith propagation more difficult.

Since a large-scale cross-provincial crackdown on Zion Church began on October 9, eighteen of the twenty-three detained pastors and congregants have been formally arrested by prosecutors in Beihai, Guangxi, while five were released on bail. Similar cases have emerged beyond Beijing’s Zion Church, with incidents reported in Linfen, Shanxi; Changsha, Hunan; and Xi’an, Shaanxi. In May, Pastor Gao Quanfu from Xi’an’s Light of Zion Church was detained for “using superstitious activities to undermine law implementation,” and in June, several members of Linfen’s Golden Lampstand Church received prison sentences for fraud.

While Christianity is among China’s five legally recognized religions, only registered Three-Self churches under official supervision are sanctioned. Numerous house churches face mounting pressure since President Xi Jinping took power, as they are considered illegal gatherings. Even credentialed Three-Self church pastors now face restrictions when preaching at other congregations, and government officials have reportedly been transferred after faith-related inquiries, despite religious freedom technically being permitted for non-Party members.

Buddhism, traditionally less persecuted, saw a major case this year when Shi Yongxin, former abbot of Shaolin Temple, was arrested in November following investigations into criminal activities and violations of Buddhist precepts, despite decade-old allegations of misconduct previously going unaddressed. Yiguandao followers, practicing a faith outside the five recognized religions, face heightened exit-entry risks, with ten Taiwanese adherents detained in mainland China over the past year.

New regulations implemented throughout 2025 have systematized religious control, requiring foreigners and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan residents to obtain special approval for religious activities, and restricting online preaching to licensed organizations only. Despite these measures, some house churches continue operating through small encrypted groups and trusted networks, carefully avoiding official detection.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), November 20, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202511200360.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Protest Banners Appear in Beijing Following Communist Party Plenum

Two protest banners briefly appeared on the streets of Beijing’s Sanlitun district on October 25, shortly after the conclusion of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to posts on social media platform X by the account “Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher.”

The white banners reportedly called for the lifting of party restrictions, freedom to form political parties, free competition, free choice, and the establishment of a “new China” based on freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. Security personnel quickly arrived at the scene and removed the banners.

One banner denounced the Communist Party as an “anti-human cult” that would “bring endless disasters to China,” while the other urged political reform. Both were signed with the tag “pque2025,” though the identity of the protester remains unknown.

Sporadic acts of dissent against the Chinese government have emerged periodically in recent years. Before the 20th Party Congress, dissident Peng Lifa—also known online as “Peng Zaizhou”—hung anti–Xi Jinping banners on Beijing’s Sitong Bridge, an act that drew international attention. In April 2025, democratic slogans were similarly displayed on a pedestrian bridge in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

According to reports, both Peng Lifa and Mei Shilin, a 27-year-old involved in the Chengdu protest, were arrested following their demonstrations. Peng was later sentenced to nine years in prison.

Earlier this year, ahead of the September 3 military parade, a separate act of protest occurred in Chongqing, where someone used projection technology to display the message “Overthrow the CCP” on a university district building for more than 50 minutes. The organizer, Qi Hong, had reportedly left China for the United Kingdom with his wife and children before the incident and operated the projection remotely from abroad.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 26, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202510260053.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China’s Surveillance State: Millions of Informants Monitor Targeted Citizens

The dystopian surveillance world depicted in George Orwell’s 1984 has, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), become an everyday reality. According to research by Chinese-American political scientist Minxin Pei, the CCP employs tens of millions of “informants,” “eyes and ears,” and intelligence operatives to monitor millions of citizens deemed potential threats. Yet Pei cautions that surveillance is no cure-all, as the regime continues to grapple with corruption, economic stagnation, and internal insecurity.

In his recent book, Pei challenges the widespread belief that China’s control over its 1.4 billion people relies primarily on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and high-definition cameras. Instead, he argues that the true strength of the CCP’s surveillance system lies in its vast organizational reach and mobilization capacity. A wide array of ordinary citizens – food delivery workers, taxi drivers, postal employees, shop owners, business managers, residential committee members, healthcare professionals, teachers, cleaners, hotel operators, and even temple monks – have been recruited as grassroots intelligence gatherers.

Drawing on official documents, Pei estimates that during the 2010s, China maintained between 10.2 and 15.8 million informants, along with 560,000 “special intelligence personnel” as of 2022, and 830,000 to 1.2 million “eyes and ears” active in any given year. These dense informant networks monitor assigned “positions” such as commercial sites, Tibetan temples, university campuses, and online spaces. Surveillance targets – numbering between 7.3 and 12.7 million – include habitual petitioners, protesters, ethnic minorities, and religious figures.

Despite this pervasive monitoring apparatus, sporadic protests still erupt, such as the 2022 White Paper Movement opposing zero-COVID restrictions. Pei notes that such spontaneous demonstrators often fall outside established watchlists, exposing a critical weakness in the CCP’s system of preemptive control. While economic modernization has historically fostered democratization in other nations, in China it has instead furnished the regime with greater resources to refine its surveillance state.

Pei warns that unresolved corruption, deepening economic decline, and rising elite anxiety triggered by Xi Jinping’s ongoing political purges could ultimately erode the regime’s stability from within.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 9, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202510090070.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability