Malcontents Need Not Apply

Hilariously Kafkaesque posting from Nick Kristof today in “Malcontents Need Not Apply” in the NYT, in which he explains the workings of Beijing’s new system whereby those intending to hold protests must apply to Public Security. As Kristof points out, this saves a lot of time: where once the police had to hunt down dissenters, now they can simply arrest them when they turn up for an application form. Except that it’s not as simple as filling in a form:

Three police officers sat across from me, and the police videographer continued to film us from every angle. The officers were all cordial and professional, although one seemed to be daydreaming about pulling out my fingernails.

Then they spent nearly an hour going over the myriad rules for demonstrations. These were detailed and complex, and, most daunting, I would have to submit a list of every single person attending my demonstration. The list had to include names and identity document numbers.

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