Chinese authorities are making sure that no ‘troublemaker’ will be able to use the gathering of leaders to draw global attention to their causes.
The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/02
By: J. Michael Cole
As authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, prepare to host the G20 summit this weekend, China’s
Photo Credit: AP/達志影像
security apparatus has shifted into high gear, with as many as 100 people preemptively detained and many others ordered to skip town for a few days. Potential troublemakers from China’s peripheries are also being told to keep out.
Government authorities worldwide fear that various groups may attempt to use large gatherings of world leaders, such as the G20, to draw attention to their cause, whether they are environmental, religious, or political.
Particularly sensitive to any disturbance, the Chinese government is not taking any chances. Representatives from several European charities have been unable to obtain accreditation for the event, AFP reports. Dozens of Chinese have reportedly been detained, and several others have been compelled to travel outside the city during the Sept. 4-5 summit.
Local hotels have also tightened security and are refusing to entertain clients from Xinjiang, home of the ethnic — and persecuted — Uighur minority, which Beijing has accused of orchestrating several attacks across China in recent years.
