China | Chaguan

Xi Jinping builds a 21st-century police state

A draft law gives rank-and-file officers new, arbitrary powers

A woman wearing a Japanese kimono behind a police checkpoint
Image: Chloe Cushman

UNDER XI JINPING, the Communist Party is building the most ambitious police state in China’s history, with the legal powers and surveillance tools to bring order and ideological conformity to every corner of daily life.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Xi Jinping builds a police state”

From the September 16th 2023 edition

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