Xi Jin Ping is building his “Iron Fortress”

China recently passed an anti-espionage law allowing the authority to ban

anyone from leaving the country if they are found to be “suspicious” of

espionage activities that can jeopardize national interest, and the government

will have expanded the scope of “sabotage actions”, including online

sabotage, collaboration with foreign “espionage organizations or individuals,”

etc., once the law officially takes effect on the first of July. I believe Xi`s

administration will propose more laws and regulations to further tighten his

control in the near future.

Xi Jin ping-The Chinese Dictator

Since the new anti-espionage law passed, China has increasingly used an “exit ban” to

bar people from leaving the country, including local residents and foreign nationals.

This approach shows that Xi Jinping does not mind the international consensus that no

one should be restricted from leaving a place for politically motivated reasons. The

Chinese entry and exit law enabled the authority to ban people from leaving if they

thought they would “endanger national security”. However, they do not clearly define

the exact means by which activities could potentially harm national security; mostly

people who only shared some politically sensitive posts or were associated with

“underground organizations” like churches, rights groups, and petitioners find

themselves listed on the blocklist until they are denied entry at the immigration

checkpoint at the airport.

China has a block-list system, commonly called” Bian Kong” among Chinese. This

system is never accessible from the outside and is only shared on the intranet( Nei

Wang); no one knows the exact number of people on the list as the “Bian Kong,”

allowing not only the law enforcement department but 26 constituent departments in

the State Council and the military to use this system to ensnare wanted people,

including high-profile individuals and ordinary citizens. Moreover, there are more than

one hundred laws and regulations that can trigger the “Exit Ban”, which really makes

“Bian Kong” sound terrifying!

Besides, China has been fortifying its southern border since the pandemic began. As

more people become interested in talking about the Border wall in the U.S. and

Mexico’s shared borderline, its ineffectiveness in keeping out migrants entering the

U.S. However, the Chinese border wall effectively blocks off smuggling activities, as

there are tens of thousands of infrared cameras and enhanced lighting devices, millions

of personnel patrolling the near-border area, and a multi-layer defense wall making it
impossible to cross the border.

What makes China plow extravagant resources into this gigantic southern border

project? First of all, unlike America, which built the border wall to regulate

migrants, China aims to ensure political stability because it is crucial to the CCP

regime. Since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he effectively wiped out his enemies

within the party, ensuring his unquestionable authority within the power ladder, which

finally allowed him to be “re-elected” as president for the third term. During his first

and second terms, he launched an “anti-corruption” campaign, ventured trillions of

dollars into the “one belt, one road” project, and mishandled the initial outbreak of the

Covid-19 pandemic in Wu Han City, which finally caused a global pandemic. The
most notorious is the three-year zero COVID policy, which devastated its economy

and made tens of millions of young people unemployed. To build his legacy, Xi has to

find a new way that will not rely on promising its own people a good life but on

Soviet-style iron-fisted rule.

Therefore, toughening the border area, along with arbitrarily using exit bans, is part

of Xi`s plan to strategically shift the focus from the “opening up policy” to “the red

curtain policy”, which shutters itself from the rest of the world, to secure Xi`s

legacy. To build his legitimacy, Xi resembles the leader of North Korea, building a

family-based dynastic line that will ensure his own family can be in charge forever. To

accomplish this, Xi built a sizable tomb for his father, the former CCP leader Xi

Zhongxun, and erected a 60-ton granite statue of him in the center of it, surrounded by

trees. Besides, Xi Jinping’s thoughts are enshrined in the Chinese constitution and

school textbooks, mandating that nearly all people study them. Such a level of

ideological control can only be seen in the neighboring DPRK. On the other hand, he

uses the Taiwan Strait tension as an accusation to bolster nationalism among young

Chinese. He may or may not really launch a war against Taiwan, but he will utilize this

topic, propagandizing to his own people, to stay outraged by the outside world so that
his “popularity” will not fade away.

China`s door is closing

I believe that in the future, China under Xi`s administration will amend the criminal

law to criminalize more” subversive activities”, Internet security will also be

included, and the punishment will be harsher for violators. The biggest challenge

that Xi is facing is the secret use of VPNs, which still allow people to access outside

information without restriction. This could be a huge loophole, and if unresolved, it

will pose a significant risk to the political security of the CCP. China will also

introduce a harsher penalty for “information crime”, Those who bring unchecked

information from the outside world will receive much heavier punishment, just like

two students in North Korea were executed for bringing South Korean drama into the

country without permission. Moreover, China will put more money into the military to

maintain a standing force for internal security.

It is very likely that Xi`s China is no longer “opening up” to the rest of the world; as I

said, ”China needs to form a new government in which the political power belongs to

all citizens because the “People`s Democratic Dictatorship” that is endorsed by the

CCP is already out of date!”

Thus, it is inevitable for the CCP to struggle to survive until its last breath.

Communism will fade away, and China will eventually open up the first chapter of

modern democracy. Xi`s hard-line, old-fashioned way of governing will receive

recalcitrance from its own people.