Financial TimesFinancial Times

‘Fortress Beijing’ eliminates threats ahead of Communist party congress

By Edward White

12 Oct 2022 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

FT takes a look at the mind-boggling extent to which the security in Beijing is being beefed up and citizens are being inconvenienced in the run-up to the Communist party congress.

“Fortress Beijing” is ready. More than 1mn alleged criminals have been arrested; travellers on the Chinese capital’s trains are being forced to prove their water bottles do not carry dangerous substances by taking sips; and airports across China are redoubling surveillance of ethnic minorities.

With just days until the Chinese Communist party’s most important political meeting in a decade, President Xi Jinping’s security lieutenants are intensifying a months-long crackdown.

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