Social Stability

China’s Civil Aviation Administration has proposed new background-screening requirements for aviation license holders and other civil aviation personnel, citing national and aviation security concerns. The proposal follows a small aircraft crash at Beijing’s China Zun skyscraper in June.

The draft covers eight types of aviation licenses, including private, commercial, airline transport, and unmanned-aircraft pilot licenses, as well as flight and ground personnel such as flight attendants. Applicants must have no criminal record, terrorism- or drug-related violations, recent administrative detention, or involvement in organizations prohibited by the state.

For several pilot licenses, background checks would also extend to spouses, parents, and siblings, who must not have certain national-security, terrorism, or drug-related convictions or involvement in banned organizations. Those who fail the checks could be denied licenses and airport access, with background assessments conducted on an ongoing basis. Public comments on the proposal are being accepted through September 4.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 23, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202608230145.aspx

The low-budget Chinese animated film Niulai (牛来) has unexpectedly become a box-office phenomenon, largely because audiences consider it exceptionally poorly made. Released on August 5, the 86-minute film earned only RMB 7,169 (US$1,067) in its first nine days. But curiosity, online mockery, and viral memes subsequently drove audiences into theaters. By August 24, its cumulative box office had reportedly reached about RMB 45.2 million (US$6.3 million), while Maoyan’s professional platform projected a final total of around RMB 119 million (US$16.6 million).

The film tells the story of a young calf named “Niulai” and a leopard named “Baola.” Its crude 3D modeling, stiff animation, and seemingly illogical dubbing have become the focus of online jokes. The film was reportedly produced almost entirely by a mother-and-son team over five years, with the son handling directing, modeling, editing, and dubbing, while his mother handled the screenplay and additional dubbing. Industry estimates put the production cost at only several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan.

The film has generated a wave of online parody and remixing, with Chinese netizens creating spin-offs such as Malai, Goulai, Xionglai, and Lv Lai, featuring horses, dogs, bears, and donkeys, respectively.

Some political commentators interpret the phenomenon as more than simple entertainment, arguing that audiences may be expressing fatigue with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) heavily promoted patriotic and political narratives and seeking a channel of non-mainstream expression. Others attribute its popularity primarily to its unusual production story, poor but genuine amateur quality, comedic effect, and the power of online meme culture.

Source: Epoch Times, August 20, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/8/20/n14833144.htm

A landslide in Pengshui County, Chongqing, on July 17 killed a grid worker named Gong Baodong, drawing public attention to China’s grassroots governance system known as grid management. Chinese state media describe the system as an industrialized approach to precision governance, dividing the country into roughly 4 million grids overseen by about 4.5 million grid workers.

The model originated in Beijing’s Dongcheng District in 2004, when officials divided the district into 1,652 grid units, each covering roughly 10,000 square meters, and assigned a supervisor to patrol the area and report problems using handheld devices. Reported issue-detection rates rose from about 30 percent to more than 90 percent, while response times fell from roughly one week to less than a day. The system received central government backing after the 2013 Third Plenum called for strengthening grassroots service platforms through grid-based management, leading to nationwide expansion by 2020.

In urban areas, grids typically cover 300–500 households, or about 800–1,000 people, while rural grids generally follow natural village boundaries. Each grid is assigned a unique code linked to administrative divisions and associated with detailed records on residents, businesses, safety risks, and other local conditions.

Grid workers typically perform five core functions: collecting information, mediating disputes, assisting vulnerable groups, conducting security patrols, and promoting government policies. The workforce includes full-time employees such as Gong, community cadres, retired Communist Party members, and volunteers.

The system also faces a number of challenges. Grid workers can carry heavy workloads while receiving uneven compensation, ranging from roughly 4,000–5,000 yuan (about $556–$694) per month in wealthier regions to 2,000–3,000 yuan (about $278–$417) elsewhere. Contract-based employment can limit opportunities for career advancement, while bureaucratic pressure to document activities often results in extensive photography and paperwork.

The system’s emphasis on detailed data collection has also raised concerns about privacy and the handling of residents’ personal information. How to balance the government’s goal of fine-grained grassroots management with individual privacy protections remains an unresolved issue.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 8, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202608080063.aspx

A discussion on X about Chinese workers in various sectors reportedly being required to surrender their passports drew more than 100,000 views on August 9. Images circulating online listed 13 categories of workers allegedly affected, including employees of research institutes, civil servants, public institutions, large state-owned enterprises, and financial-sector firms, as well as university and school teachers and senior hospital staff.

Reported cases include subway maintenance workers who have been required to surrender their passports since last year and employees of state-invested companies who must obtain prior approval before attending exhibitions in Hong Kong.

A Lanzhou resident said grid workers—community-level administrators responsible for managing residential areas—had inquired about passport safekeeping in some housing compounds, although the practice was not uniform across all communities. A Gansu-based internet user claimed that some neighborhood committees were requiring residents to hand their passports to grid workers, suggesting that the practice may extend beyond state employees to ordinary residents.

A Chengdu taxi driver recalled that Tibetan residents in Sichuan’s Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture had their passports confiscated years ago regardless of their employment or official status, with similar measures reportedly applied to Uyghurs.

A Chongqing resident said he had been barred from obtaining a passport after being classified as a security threat because of alleged links to the pro-democracy movement. Another commenter said a friend’s hospital had expanded passport collection requirements to include temporary workers.

On August 7, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reiterated rules requiring registered officials to have their personal travel documents held by their work units. An independent scholar said police told him directly in 2023 that he was prohibited from leaving the country despite holding a valid passport.

Sources suggested that local officials often interpret central government intentions broadly and impose stricter controls without formal written directives. This can result in inconsistent and poorly documented enforcement across regions, with passport restrictions reportedly extending in some cases beyond government officials and state employees to ordinary residents.

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 12, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shehui/2026/08/12/china-entryexit-passport-revocation-exit-restriction/