Authorities Ramp Up Security Measures for China’s Asian Games, Disrupting Residents’ Lives

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Tennis Center, a venue of the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang Province, on April 1, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The 19th Asian Games kicked off on Sept. 23 in China’s Hangzhou city, after a year’s delay due to Beijing’s stringent zero-COVID policy that was lifted late last year.

The country’s biggest sporting event in over a decade brings about 12,000 athletes from 45 nations to compete in 40 sports in the capital city of Zhejiang Province.

While the Chinese regime has beefed up security amid an influx of athletes and visitors, the daily life of residents in Hangzhou and neighboring cities has been disrupted, triggering an outcry among the locals against Beijing’s surveillance measures.

Stringent Safety Inspections

The Asian Games are held in 56 venues, 42 of which are located in Hangzhou and 14 in five neighboring cities. The authorities have reportedly imposed over-the-top security measures.

One Hangzhou resident, who spoke to the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity, said that railway passengers heading to the city and other hosting cities must go through multiple checkpoints; travel is limited for passenger cars, and many roads have been closed.

A netizen posted photos on X, formerly known as Twitter, including an apartment window and a bathroom cabinet in Hangzhou sealed off by local authorities.

Hangzhou resident Dong Liming (pseudonym) told The Epoch Times that the authorities are closely monitoring the locals.

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“If you’re on their blacklist and you’re near any of the sporting venues, you’ll receive a warning message,” Mr. Dong told the publication on Sept. 19.

Individuals deemed as enemies by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are placed under strict surveillance, particularly during major events.

For example, the authorities used health codes on the COVID-19 app to prevent people from holding a protest against a bank in central Henan Province last year. Several bank depositors, whose savings were frozen by the bank, told The Epoch Times then that the health code on their app turned red as soon as they scanned venue barcodes in the provincial capital city of Zhengzhou. A red health code—indicating a person may be infected with COVID-19—means that the carrier is barred access to all public places, from restrooms to shops to train stations, and faces mandatory quarantine in centralized isolation centers.

Mr. Dong said security has ramped up since mid-September. Guards and security posts are stationed around sporting venues to prevent ordinary people from getting near them.

“If you walk in the street carrying a bag, you may be stopped [by police] anytime for a safety check,” he said.

Another resident, Li Youlin (pseudonym), told the publication that public transport passengers must have their belongings checked and must drink whatever liquids they carry in front of the security guard to prove they are not explosives or poisonous.

A post from Chinese social media Weibo on Sept. 17, 2023, showing manhole covers that were sealed by authorities for security purposes ahead of the opening of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. (Screenshot via the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times)

Moreover, Mr. Li noted that all types of manhole covers in Hangzhou are sealed with security seals and affixed with safety inspection labels. “All electrical manhole covers, communication manhole covers, and drainage manhole covers have undergone inspection. Each manhole is labeled individually, and all are sealed with special safety inspection seals,” he said.

According to Reuters, a sizable traffic control area around the city’s Olympic stadium was blocked off, at least one metro station was shut, and deliveries were disrupted on the opening day of the games.

Reuters reported on Sept. 24 that a netizen said a pencil sharpener he had ordered couldn’t be delivered due to safety rules. “How dangerous is the sharpener?” the netizen wrote. “Will I be able to use it to kill foreign country leaders?”

A business owner claimed that over 30 packages delivered to Zhejiang were being returned daily since the start of the games, and he had to pay thousands of yuan in fines due to delayed delivery, according to BNN.

Dissidents Under Surveillance

The CCP suppressed dissidents living in Hangzhou and neighboring cities during the Asian Games.

During “sensitive” periods, such as major national or international events, national holidays, and political conferences, the CCP systematically silences critics, rights advocates, and petitioners. These “social stability maintenance methods” include stalking, threatening, coercion, detention, torture, house arrest, or making these people “disappear.”

Petitioners refer to citizens with grievances that they wish to bring up to an appealing organization—such as the Office of Letters and Visits, an agency expected to work as a mediator—at a higher level. Petitioners appeal for houses and jobs taken away from them illegally by local officials or governments, or other cases in which they have failed to seek justice through China’s legal or judiciary systems.

Ms. Yan (pseudonym), a petitioner, has been seeking justice after her company was forcibly torn down by authorities 18 years ago. She was detained for 19 months in a local detention center. Since then, Ms. Yan has been under constant surveillance, she told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Sept. 22.

“The local authorities and police began to monitor me again on Sept. 19, before the opening of the Asian Games,” she said.

Ms. Yan didn’t give any detail as to why and how she lost her company.

Furthermore, she said she lost contact with her fellow petitioners at this time due to strict monitoring by police.

Shao Mingliang, a pro-democracy activist and anti-CCP critic from Nanjing city, was released in March after four years of imprisonment. Since then, he has been under house arrest but remains under close watch since the games began.

“The authorities installed high-definition night vision surveillance cameras a few days ago, about 30 meters away from my house. They have installed at least five surveillance cameras in the first layer of security near my house,” Mr. Shao told the publication on Sept. 22.

He said that the authorities implemented four other layers of surveillance: a police guard post situated about 20 meters away from his home, a van with plainclothes police about 50 meters away, a checkpoint about 80 to 100 meters away, and thugs all around his property.

Shi Tingfu, a human rights activist from Nanjing, was reportedly forced to travel to Xinjiang, a far western region in China.

Gong Mingeng, a human rights activist from Shanghai, told the publication on Sept. 1 that he was taken to a small inn on Chongming Island, an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China that is cut off from Shanghai.

“I was told that I will be isolated on the island for at least two months,” said Mr. Gong.

According to Reuters, the Hangzhou government spent over $30 billion on transport infrastructure, stadiums, accommodation, and other facilities from 2016 to 2020.

There has been no public information on the spending on these investments since 2020.

The games will run for two weeks until Oct. 8.

Li Xi, Zhang Ting, Xiao Lusheng, and Reuters contributed to this report.