Monitoring and Tracking · Full chronicle and history

Procurement documents for AI classroom patrol systems at Anhui Vocational College of Commerce and Trade and Zhengzhou Normal University in 2025 have recently sparked concern: the systems monitor student attendance rates, head-up rates, and desk-leaning rates, analyze the political leanings and sensitive words in teachers' classroom speech, and automatically trigger screenshots for evidence collection and inclusion in priority monitoring lists when thresholds are met.

Nanjing University has been exposed for spending over 31 million yuan to install surveillance equipment in 103 classrooms. Officials claim the move aims to increase student engagement, sparking public criticism over the waste of public funds and the oversight of public power.

On November 6, plainclothes officers were on duty outside the former residence of Li Keqiang in Hefei. A long-term surveillance post was set up behind a shop opposite the residence. Anyone caught taking photos was forced to delete them, and some were even taken to the police station for questioning.

According to netizen reports, the official website of Zhaobang Technology shows that it has developed a mass emotion detection system. By combining technologies from neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, mathematics, and sociology to analyze public sentiment, it is being criticized as a tool for monitoring the public.

A large number of police and plainclothes officers have appeared around Li Keqiang's former residence and Hongxing Road in Hefei, Anhui, monitoring passersby.

On October 21, Xu Xiaodong posted a video on Twitter revealing that over the past three or four days he had been followed in Beijing by a suspicious person wearing Arc'teryx clothing, whom he eventually caught and forced to the police station.

On October 12, Gao Yu tweeted that guards had been posted outside her door right after the long holiday ended, watching her day and night in the open air, drawing outside attention to an escalation of stability maintenance ahead of the Fifth Plenum.

On September 30, the British human rights organization "Tibet Watch" published a 75-page report analyzing documents such as Chinese government procurement notices from 2017 to 2026, claiming that the authorities have deployed police drones, automated drone nests, and anti-drone equipment in Tibet, building an aerial control system and strengthening control over civilian drones.

Independent media outlet Aquarius Era reported on September 26 that police have been standing guard 24 hours a day outside the home of Sun Meihua's brother-in-law Liu Anjun since September 24. Liu Anjun had previously repeatedly asked police to investigate Sun Meihua's disappearance and suspected trafficking.

On September 15, the counselor conducted the fourth home visit for Min Xin. Min Xin was in good mental condition but was very worried about family members and worked hard to exercise and stay healthy.

On September 13, Anthropic released its September threat intelligence report, stating that operators linked to local Chinese police and state security agencies had used Claude to assist in monitoring petitioners, rights defenders, and overseas dissidents, with the "Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher" account being one of the monitoring targets.

According to reports, several men dressed in dark clothing, wearing masks and sunglasses, observed and filmed crowds near the National Archives. It remains unconfirmed whether they were related to the Chinese police.

A reporter went to Zhu Rongji's ancestral home in Hunan and found dozens of plainclothes police officers and local officials watching over the site, though members of the public still came to lay flowers in tribute.

Shanghai residents received calls from community police officers asking if they have plans to travel to Japan, and were informed that there is a recent list regarding travel to Japan that requires caution.

Mr. Shi, a native of Liaoning living in Japan, said that local police visited and harassed his parents three times within two months, demanding that he return to China to talk, and claiming that his name was in the police computer system.

On June 28, 2026, a college student posted that after casually saying in a WeChat group chat with friends that they wanted to jump off a building, they were soon precisely located by several police officers, taken away from their dormitory for investigation, and their parents were also warned not to speak out of turn.

The Yuanmingyuan campus of Beijing 101 Middle School has installed three cameras directly above the principal's complaint box to conduct comprehensive surveillance on those who submit complaints.

In late May 2026, on the eve of the 37th anniversary of the June Fourth incident, public security departments in Beijing, Guizhou, Zhejiang and other places placed large numbers of dissidents, independent scholars and rights lawyers — including Gao Yu, Pu Zhiqiang, Hu Jia and Chen Xi — under assigned surveillance or took them away on forced travel.

November 26, 2010 marked the second anniversary of Yang Jia’s execution. His mother, Wang Jingmei, traveled to Beijing’s Futian Cemetery to pay her respects, and the authorities deployed police to monitor her. Radio Free Asia reported that Yang Jia is regarded by many as a victim of China’s judicial system.

On April 5, 2010, Qingming Festival, Wang Jingmei went to Beijing Futian Cemetery to pay respects to her son. Large numbers of police and plainclothes officers surrounded the cemetery, several people filmed the mourners with video cameras, and more than a dozen police cars were parked nearby. The police told Wang Jingmei that Yang Jia's grave would receive "special attention."