Business as Usual — Another Anniversary Passes in Beijing

The world was both shocked and mesmerized by the scope and depth of China’s preparations for the Olympics last summer. Efforts to ready Beijing for the October 1st celebration of the People’s Republic of China’s 60th anniversary were similarly awe-inspiring. One million volunteers were conscripted across the city as unofficial public security guards and subway guides. 200,000 people were called on to participate in the official National Day grand parade (da yuebing). College students were reported to have been practicing patriotic songs and dances throughout the summer, sometimes not returning to their dorms until early in the morning. And entire sections of the city were shut down for parade rehearsals and the 10/1 celebrations themselves, leading to massive traffic diversions as well as early releases for affected students and workers.

As is to be expected, especially in the PRC, pre-National Day operations featured both a hard and a soft dimension. The soft side of the preparations can be characterized most succinctly by a color – red – which in traditional China refers to wealth and happiness, and in contemporary China has the added reference to communism. Though the color is always omnipresent across the country, it was even more ubiquitous than normal in Beijing in the days leading up to the celebration. Large People’s Republic of China flags were hung in front of every business and home, red street lanterns lined major thoroughfares, and red adorned advertisements for Chinese products occupied nearly every billboard. Non-red manifestations of the celebration’s soft side could be found in the live variety shows and Mao era musicals launched to commemorate the anniversary as well as in the highly anticipated mid-September of Jianguo Daye (The Founding of a Republic), a star-studded epic film.

For most, though, the soft side of the National Day preparations was eclipsed by the vice grip of authoritarianism that tightened around Beijing in the days and weeks leading up to the celebration. As Beijing resident Xi Shaoqi euphemistically noted – “we must all be a little more honest these days.” True to form, the CCP spared no effort or expense in ensuring that their plans went off without a hitch. Uniformed police officers stood erect at major intersections wielding large black batons while riot squad members armed with shotguns patrolled train stations and airports. Security around the parade route was particularly tight. All individuals living or working in the area were ordered to either vacate the premises or stay away from their windows during rehearsals and on the day of the parade. Several restaurants and businesses near the staging grounds were compelled to shut down in mid-September in order to accommodate the authorities.

Access to Beijing has also been tightly controlled. Tour groups have been restricted from entering the city between the 1st and the 8th of October, foreigners have had difficulty procuring visas, and aggrieved individuals looking to travel to the capital to report on local injustices have been temporarily barred from doing so. The confluence of these measures amounts to what The Economist has termed the “harmonious and stable crackdown,” a meticulously planned and executed operation designed to defend against any form of social unrest.

Domestic dissidents and members of the international community have seized on the opportunities inherent in the anniversary to criticize China for its human rights record and lack of political development. 93 year-old Wan Li, former Chairman of the National People’s Congress, penned one of the most stirring criticisms, admonishing the Party for not living up to the principles of freedom and democracy it championed when establishing the People’s Republic in 1949. The international media, meanwhile, has used the occasion to highlight the stark contrast between China’s burgeoning economic and lagging political development. Such statements, however, seem to have little impact on the state of things on the ground.

Despite the enormity of the preparations for 10/1, they had little impact on the mindset of the people of Beijing. Indeed, for most Chinese urbanites such events – and the immense changes that accompany them – have become a regular part of their day-to-day life. Veterans of the reform and opening era, Beijing residents have watched their city be transformed by the social and economic forces of globalization. More recently, the Olympics coupled with the numerous anniversaries that accompany any year ending with a “9” have ensured that the status quo in Beijing is inexorable change. An individual who has lived in the capital for only 14 months would have witnessed the physical metamorphosis of the city in the lead-up to the Olympics, would have seen police officers standing with fire extinguishers in Tiananmen Square to stop monks from protesting the treatment of Tibet via self-immolation, would have experienced the widespread anxiety and tightened security that marked the passing of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Incident, and would have been a witness to Internet restrictions that became more strict with the passing of each day of import and the advent of each new manifestation of ethnic tension.

On a recent Friday night, shoppers and bar-goers in the popular Sanlitun district were surprised to find the area’s main avenue, Workers’ Stadium North Road, occupied by People’s Liberation Army tanks. Manned by armed soldiers, they rolled down a street otherwise occupied by an upscale mall and several office buildings. When told the story, Xi laughed and raised his shoulders glumly as if to say “so what?” In today’s Beijing, a city where the only constants are incessant change and the continued leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, such sights surprise few, serving as a simple reminder of the complex and enigmatic nature of China’s development.