While things on the Internet offend the authorities sometimes, a recent live webcast of some urban management officers, who are known as "chengguan," has caused public discussions.
Last week, chengguan in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, took to the Internet to broadcast themselves going about the city's nocturnal streets to "ensure a quiet environment" for students sitting the national college entrance exam. The live webcast was accompanied by text describing what the officers were doing and where they were.
The idea was to show a "transparent law enforcement process to the public," according to the urban management bureau of Zhengzhou's Zhongyuan District.
There was even a poem! A very loose translation goes: "Chengguan law enforcement has always caused controversy, and it's hard to say who is right or wrong. We came to the web for help, which guarantees a transparent process. Judge for yourself who is right or wrong rather than listening to hearsay."
The chengguan have been widely criticized for their part in many public outrages, particularly for violence against unlicensed street vendors. Officers have been seen to be rude, to start more trouble than they stop, and to use violence, sometimes quite extreme violence, against whoever dares to disobey.
Some welcomed the webcast, observing that while the chengguan usually supervise the public, now the public get to supervise them.
"In the past, people who recorded the chengguan would be stopped or even beaten up by them," said a local resident, who balanced his criticism with the proviso that, "it takes courage up to face public pressure."
Many questioned the entire validity of webcast, dismissing it as a publicity stunt. Some even said the live feed "violated human rights" by showing the faces of people, such as the vendors, without prior permission.
"The officers themselves decided what to show and when, so the real situation is no more transparent than before," said another Zhengzhou citizen.
DAMAGE CONTROL?
The chengguan are no strangers to controversy. Urban management officers have been the subject of much public discontent in recent years for their conduct.
Last year, a street vendor who was trying to evade the chengguan accidentally ran over and killed his own son in east China's Zhejiang Province.
In 2014, a central China court upheld prison terms of up to 11 years for four officers who beat a fruit vendor to death.
This latest news has led many to ask if the webcast was just an attempt at damage control. Ye Daxin, deputy head of the Zhengzhou urban management bureau, dismissed accusations of a publicity stunt, saying that "it was a challenge for us to broadcast our actions live."
"There was no editing or anything like it during the webcast, which means the entire process of law enforcement was shown, including those vendors who illegally occupied the streets, or those who behaved in an uncivilized way," he said.
Ye said that his bureau was in talks with the webcast platform to pixelate the faces of vendors in subsequent webcasts out of "respect for their privacy."
Ye added that there would be more webcasts in the future, particularly on "important law-enforcing days."
Yu Mengxi, a publicity officer with the bureau, said the live streaming also allowed the public to see the harm caused by illegal vendors and barbecues in the open air.
Wang Kaiyu, a researcher with Anhui Academy of Social Sciences, said that given the public distrust of chengguan officers, it is understandable that they have chosen to express themselves in this way.
"In the past, they have tried to involve the media in their work, but the information was sometimes distorted," Wang said. "Live streaming certainly helps the public supervise the chengguan and understand their difficulties, but such a live broadcast is more symbolic, and cannot possibly become part of their daily routine."
Wang Jingbo, a professor with China University of Political Science and Law, said that despite the supervisory aspect of the webcast, it would not eradicate the roots of public concern.
"The public need to give chengguan officers more leeway and support,while the officers need to show more concern for the street vendors, treating them with humanity rather than violently driving them away," he said.
