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CCP Politburo member Zhou directs the 'Urban Management System' (Daniel Velez/AFP/Getty Images)
The City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau is a local government agency established in every Chinese city. The locals call it “chengguan.” It is notorious for using violence to enforce the law.
The exact legal basis for the existence of chengguan and the guidelines for its law enforcement remain unknown. This powerful, yet extralegal, law enforcement entity has created so many civil conflicts that any normal government would acknowledge the enormous negative impact brought by the chengguan. So, one wonders, why does the Chinese Communist Party’s regime continue to develop chengguan and even upgrade its facility and equipment?
Recently, a member of the political science faculty at a university in southern China revealed the mystery to a reporter. While serving as a visiting lecturer at a Communist Party Academy, this professor had a conversation with a local chengguan official regarding whether or not the chengguan system should be abolished. This official indicated that chengguan will not only continue to exist but will also develop further and obtain strong political support by authorities. In order to serve as a deterrent force against people on the streets, its use of violence and bullying must remain.
The reason to maintain chengguan and its authority is that, when facing ongoing calls for civil rights and mass demonstrations, cracking down on crowds with police or armed police easily attracts international attention. But the constant threat of “urban management enforcement” usually does not. In some cases chengguan overstep the mark, and actually precipitate mass incidents. Their purpose is actually to remind the citizenry that the Party is in control, and it is watching.
Local governments are the immediate supervisors of the chengguan, and they receive direct instruction from an assigned local deputy mayor. Further up the system, the so-called “Comprehensive Management Office” directs the local government. Politburo member Zhou Yongkang is the director of the “Comprehensive Management Office.” Therefore, as long as Zhou continues to maintain his political standing, chengguan, a tool that does nothing but violently squelch the people, will continue to exist and grow stronger.
Zheng Haozong is a columnist with Apollo News (aboluowang.com), a Chinese opinion website and news provider and aggregator.
