NEWS//China's iron fence

"The fence is tight, so wild dogs can't get in!"

 This Chinese proverb was quoted by chinafxj.cn in an article that described how China has established a grassroots network of informants who detect and report on adherents of Xie jiao. Xie jiao are religious cults deemed a danger to society because of their "heterodox teachings". Among the groups considered xie jiao are Falun Gong, The Church of the Almighty God, The Shouters, The Disciples Society, and Unification  Church.

Chinafxj.cn explains, “Only by tightening the 'iron fence' against cults and forming a 'normalized' nationwide anti-cult structure can the broad masses of the people be protected from the intrusion and harm of cults and build a new, harmonious and civilized community."

How does this "iron fence" work? An urban or rural area is divided into a network of grids. The average grid is 100 meters square. According to Bitter Winter, "Each grid has a grid manager with assistants, a grid police officer, a grid supervisor, a grid CCP secretary, a grid legal worker reporting to the local prosecutor." The grid managers and his/her assistants are volunteers who investigate reports of xie jiao activity. When xie jiao activity is suspected, the grid leader calls in the police. In addition, the grid manager's team is responsible for reaching every citizen in their area with anti-xie-jiao propaganda. Many grid leaders are older Communist Party members. 

The China Media Project offers this graphic as a picture of how “gridding” works at the micro-level of the neighborhood and street. “This graphic includes a single unit of an urban grid, with color-coded sections, the street names and sub-districts clearly labeled.”

China's use of a grid network to ferret out people who espouse "heterodox teachings" is reminiscent of the networks establishing in Mao's China. Through those grassroots teams of informers, countless Chinese citizens were outed as unpatriotic, were sent to re-education camps, and were imprisoned.

Chinafxj.cn is a website where the Chinese government has consolidated its anti-xiejiao notices and materials.

Sources: Chinafxj.cn, Bitter Winter, China Media Project, The Asia Dialogue