Reuters
Police erected barriers and patrolled the streets of Shanghai this weekend
A strong police response stifled Halloween celebrations in Shanghai, in what many saw as an attempt by authorities to crack down on large public gatherings and free speech.
Witnesses told the BBC they saw police dispersing crowds of costumed revelers on the streets of Shanghai, while photos of apparent arrests spread on social media.
Authorities have not yet commented. Although there has been no official notice banning Halloween celebrations, rumors of a possible crackdown began circulating online earlier this month.
This comes a year after Halloween revelers in Shanghai went viral for donning costumes mocking the Chinese government and its policies.
Photos from last year's Halloween event showed people dressed as giant surveillance cameras, Covid testers and a censored Weibo post.
This year, images posted on social media showed people dressed in seemingly non-controversial costumes, including those of comic book characters such as Batman and Deadpool, being escorted in the back of police vans. Some partygoers said online they were forced to remove their makeup at a police station.
But it's still unclear exactly what types of costumes police were targeting, if any, because many other partygoers were left behind.
Eyewitnesses told China's BBC that on Friday, a large number of police and vehicles gathered on Julu Road in downtown Shanghai and those in disguise were asked to leave the area.
On Saturday, police were seen dispersing revelers from the city's Zhongshan Park.
The BBC spoke to a Shanghai resident who was at the park with friends that evening. “Every time someone new appeared on the scene, everyone said 'Wow, that's cool' and laughed. There were police officers on the side, but I felt like they wanted to watch too,” he said. declared the person.
But the festive atmosphere ended around 10 p.m. local time (2 p.m. GMT) when a new group of police arrived and began cordoning off the park, according to the eyewitness. “As we were leaving the park, we were told to take off all our head coverings. We were told that not everyone leaving this exit could be in costume.”
The person added that they saw a man clash with police as he tried to enter.
Another Shanghai resident said the number of police recording the details of people dressed in costumes appeared to exceed the number of partygoers themselves.
“Shanghai isn’t supposed to be like this,” the person said. “He was always very tolerant.”
The BBC has asked Shanghai police for a response.
Chinese BBC
A partygoer disguised as a waiter from the famous hotpot chain Haidilao
Rumors of repression have been circulating in recent days.
Earlier this month, some business owners who run cafes, bookstores and bars in Shanghai received government notices discouraging Halloween events, according to the BBC.
Around the same time, messages from what appeared to be a government chat group spread online suggesting there would be a ban on large-scale Halloween activities. The BBC was unable to verify these messages.
Some universities have issued warnings to their students.
A student at the prestigious Fudan University said school authorities recently asked him not to attend gatherings. Sunday evening, the student received a call from a school counselor.
“They called me to ask me if I had gone out, if I had participated (in activities). And if I had participated, I couldn't reveal that I was a student (at the university)” , the person told the BBC.
The BBC also saw a memo from another Shanghai university addressed to students in mid-October, discouraging them from “reducing their participation in large and small gatherings in the near future.”
This is not the first time that Chinese authorities have cracked down on disguises. In 2014, Beijing police said people wearing Halloween-themed costumes on the city's subway could be arrested, saying the costumes could cause a crowd to gather and create “trouble.”
But this year follows the White Paper protest movement, which began in November 2022 when large groups of people, mostly young people, gathered spontaneously one night on a Shanghai street to mourn the victims of a fire.
That rally quickly turned into brief – but widespread – protests against the country's Covid policies, posing one of the biggest challenges to the Chinese government's authority since the Tiananmen protests.
Chinese BBC
Some partygoers dressed up as Huawei's latest foldable phone
