A heavy police response has stifled Halloween celebrations in Shanghai, in what many have viewed as an attempt by authorities to crack down on freedom of expression. Witnesses have said they saw police dispersing crowds of costumed revellers on the streets of Shanghai, while photos of apparent arrests have spread on social media.
While there has been no official notice prohibiting Halloween celebrations, rumors of a possible crackdown began circulating online earlier this month. Earlier this month, some business owners who run coffeeshops, bookshops and bars in Shanghai received government notices discouraging Halloween events. It comes a year after Halloween revellers in Shanghai went viral for donning costumes poking fun at the Chinese government and its policies. Pictures from last year's Halloween event showed people dressing up as a giant surveillance camera, Covid testers, and a censored Weibo post.
This year, footage posted to social media showed people dressed in seemingly uncontroversial costumes, including those of comic book characters such as Batman and Deadpool, being escorted into the back of police vans. Some party-goers said online they were forced to remove make-up. But it remains unclear what types of costumes police were targeting, as many other revellers were left alone.
Over the weekend, police were seen dispersing revellers from the city's Zhongshan Park. A Shanghai resident said the number of police officers taking down the details of people dressed in costumes appeared to exceed the number of revellers themselves. "Shanghai is not supposed to be like this," the person said. "It has always been very tolerant."
No comments:
Post a Comment