The ruling Chinese Communist Party is developing a new system of social control that will allow it even closer control over its citizens' lives, RFA has learned. The system will carve up neighborhoods into a grid pattern with 15-20 households per square, and give each grid a dedicated monitor who will report back on residents' affairs to existing neighborhood committees.
Neighborhood committees in China have long been tasked with monitoring the activities of ordinary people in a certain area, but the new grid management system will allow the ruling party to manage the daily lives of ordinary people even more closely, as well as giving indicators of possible dissent at an early stage. A copy of a directive sent out to neighborhood committees in recent weeks that was obtained by RFA set out the details of the new plan. "The basic task of the grid monitor will be to gain a full understanding of the situation within the grid," the document explains.
Neighborhood committees in China have long been tasked with monitoring the activities of ordinary people in a certain area, but the new grid management system will allow the ruling party to manage the daily lives of ordinary people even more closely, as well as giving indicators of possible dissent at an early stage. A copy of a directive sent out to neighborhood committees in recent weeks that was obtained by RFA set out the details of the new plan. "The basic task of the grid monitor will be to gain a full understanding of the situation within the grid," the document explains.
