How China stifles dissent without a KGB or Stasi of its own
A secret policeman on every street
Much thought has gone into making the Beijing Police Museum a family-friendly attraction. Housed in a classical mansion near Tiananmen Square, the museum is big on crime-fighting heroics. Glass cases show guns used by Chinese police. A model of a police dog sports a bullet-proof vest, commando-style helmet and protective boots on its paws. During the lunar-new-year holidays, a recent weekday found parents and children admiring displays about police helicopters, drug squads, traffic patrols and cyber-officers keeping the internet “healthy”. Political repression earns a passing mention—but in a historical section. An old photograph shows student protesters being arrested by plain-clothes agents, decades before the Communist Party took power.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Secret police on every street”
From the February 17th 2024 edition
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