Beijing Watch: CCP Upgrades Anti-Black Campaign! 'Network Water Army' First Designated as Black Evil Force, Who Could Be Targeted Before the 21st Party Congress?

The Chinese authorities recently announced the launch of a one-year 'Deepening the Special Campaign Against Black and Evil Forces' starting from July. Building on the ongoing anti-black efforts since 2021, this new campaign specifically targets 'network water army' as a new type of black and evil force. The focus has shifted from traditional violent crimes to 'soft violence' facilitated by online platforms, including psychological threats, public opinion manipulation, and platform-based operations.

The authorities state that black and evil crimes now exhibit 'persistent, recurring, and complex' characteristics, evolving from offline to online, and from traditional violence to psychological and public opinion-based threats. This necessitates concentrated rectification efforts.

The most notable aspect is that 'network water army' has been included for the first time as a key target in the anti-black and evil campaign. While China has previously conducted 'Clear Sky' series of special actions to address online rumors, self-media chaos, and online violence, this time it has incorporated organized online operations into the framework of black and evil crimes, elevating them to the level of organized crime management.

In Jingzhou, Hubei, underground churches and dissidents have also been included as targets in the anti-black and evil campaign.

After completing the first nationwide anti-black special campaign from 2018 to 2020, the authorities transitioned to 'normalized anti-black and evil efforts' in 2021, emphasizing institutionalization and rule-of-law governance. The return to a one-year special action this time indicates that the current normalized governance is insufficient to address the rapidly evolving new types of crimes.

During the 2018-2020 anti-black special campaign, grassroots 'village tyrants' had systemic impacts. Over 1,200 rural black organizations were dismantled, and more than 3,700 'village tyrants' were severely punished. Additionally, over 40,000 village cadres with issues related to 'village tyrants' or black and evil forces were removed. Typical cases included family-style village tyrants controlling village elections, embezzling collective assets, and monopolizing construction projects or resources.

China's anti-black and evil efforts have always carried strong political and governance implications. In 2018, the shift from 'striking black' to 'clearing black' emphasized the elimination of 'protective umbrellas' and the purification of grassroots party and government, which led to some regions exaggerating the nature of cases to meet targets.

This year's campaign coincides with China's economic downturn, rising employment pressures, and increasing social discontent. During economic downturns, black and evil forces are more likely to expand by colluding with local officials, seizing markets, or collecting protection fees, which not only harm people's livelihoods but also undermine social stability.

With local grassroots elections taking place across the country, the authorities are particularly concerned about the potential interference or manipulation of elections by black and evil forces, which directly relates to grassroots governance and the foundation of governance.

Reviewing China's recent governance actions, one can observe that policies such as 'anti-black and evil,' 'Clear Sky,' 'anti-fraud,' and 'platform economy regulation,' although belonging to different domains, share a common trend of extending governance from the physical to the digital space.