Leaked Directive Details 18 Security Measures Ahead of CCP Fifth Plenum

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 20th Central Committee is scheduled to hold its Fifth Plenum in Beijing from Oct. 26 to 29, according to an official announcement published by China’s State Council. Ahead of the meeting, security has reportedly tightened across the capital, with a leaked document describing 18 security and “stability-maintenance” measures targeting potential political and social disruptions.

On Oct. 12, the X account Baodian Weekly reported that security measures in Beijing and surrounding areas had intensified as the plenum approached. The account cited what it described as a confidential central-level document outlining the measures.

The document, titled “Notice on Maintaining Security and Stability During the Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee,” was reportedly issued by the Office of the Central Leading Group for Maintaining Political Security and Social Stability. It was addressed to provincial-level political and legal authorities, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and other relevant agencies.

Leaked Notice Outlines Security Controls

According to the document, relevant departments are required to ensure designated personnel remain on duty around the clock and promptly report major emergencies. It also establishes daily reporting, requiring regions and departments to submit updates by 6 p.m. under the principle: “Report the situation if something happens; report that all is well if nothing happens.”

The listed requirements include monitoring overseas groups accused by the CCP of separatism or subversion and restricting activities by personnel associated with certain foreign embassies, consulates, media organizations and nongovernmental organizations in designated areas.

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The notice also calls for preventing protests and other acts authorities consider politically disruptive, including anti-CCP messages displayed electronically or on banners and unauthorized drone flights.

Other measures include monitoring political activity among workers, women and students; targeting what authorities describe as overseas religious “infiltration” and illegal religious activity; identifying potential instability during leadership transitions; and strengthening counterterrorism efforts.

The document also calls for enforcing Beijing’s no-fly zone, tightening airspace security around the capital and preventing petitioners from traveling to Beijing to lodge complaints. China maintains an official petitioning system through the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration, through which citizens can submit grievances to government authorities.

The notice further calls for preventing mass incidents and individual acts of violence while strengthening authorities’ ability to guide and control online discussion related to social stability.

The report drew strong reactions online. One commenter wrote, “It’s frightening when you think about it: coordination from top to bottom, leaving no gaps. A monolithic system, yet things may not turn out as intended.”

Another wrote, “The CCP’s totalitarian rule has reached the point of being on the verge of collapse.”

A third commented, “When things reach an extreme, they inevitably reverse course. If people do not deliver justice, Heaven will!”

Petitioners Face Crackdown Ahead of Fifth Plenum

Yang Caiying, a Chinese rights activist living in Japan, posted several videos on social media that she said showed petitioners being forcibly removed by police and other personnel at China’s National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration on Oct. 12.

One video appears to show four or five people carrying a woman away by her arms and legs as she cries out. Another shows two uniformed officers moving through a crowd before taking an elderly woman away.

Footage dated Oct. 8 purportedly shows more than 10 police officers restraining a petitioner outside the Huai’an Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu Province. Family members of the petitioner are then shown repeatedly jumping into a river in apparent protest.

Additional footage dated Oct. 6 allegedly shows more than 10 plainclothes personnel detaining petitioners from Jiangsu Province in Dadong Village, Beijing. One man can be seen being held on the street while several other men stand nearby.

Another video, dated Oct. 3, concerns Zou Xiaoyan, a petitioner from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. According to the accompanying account, authorities placed Zou under residential restrictions while she was on bail pending trial after she purchased a plane ticket to Beijing. She was reportedly pursued and intercepted by more than 10 plainclothes personnel after arriving in the capital.

A separate video posted online purportedly shows a petitioner from Guangdong Province being removed from a Beijing subway train by police without an explanation or presentation of legal documents.

A female passenger can be heard challenging the officers: “Under what law are you making him get off the train? You have to inform him of the reason. There are procedures that must be followed in law enforcement!”

On Oct. 4, an X user named “Luo Xiang” shared an account attributed to a person described as having ties to China’s security system, claiming Beijing had entered an unusually strict period of controls ahead of the plenum.

“Good heavens! Beijing has entered a period of controls unprecedented in its history! Not even a fly can get in! It seems the emperor is really afraid!” the post said.

“How frightened must they be to go to such lengths!” the blogger added.