China: Police target Halloween revellers in Shanghai

Pictures from last year’s Halloween event showed people dressing up as a giant surveillance camera, Covid testers, and a censored Weibo post.

This year, footage posted to social media showed people dressed in seemingly uncontroversial costumes, including those of comic book characters such as Batman and Deadpool, being escorted into the back of police vans. Some party-goers said online they were forced to remove make-up at a police station.

But it remains unclear what – if any – types of costumes police were targeting, as many other revellers were left alone.

Eyewitnesses have told BBC Chinese that on Friday a large number of police officers and vehicles gathered on Julu Road in downtown Shanghai, and people dressed in costumes were asked to leave the scene.

On Saturday, police were seen dispersing revellers from the city’s Zhongshan Park.

The BBC spoke to a Shanghai resident who was at the park with friends that night. “Every time someone new showed up on the scene, everyone would go, ‘Wow that’s cool’ and laugh. There were policemen on the sidelines, but I felt they also wanted to watch,” the person said.

But the festive mood ended around 22:00 local (14:00 GMT) when a new group of policemen arrived and began cordoning off the park, according to the eyewitness. “As we left the park, we were told to take off all our headgear. We were told everyone leaving from that exit could not be costumed.”

The person added that they saw a man clash with police officers when he tried to enter.

Another Shanghai resident said the number of police officers taking down the details of people dressed in costumes appeared to exceed the number of revellers themselves.

“Shanghai is not supposed to be like this,” the person said. “It has always been very tolerant.”

The BBC has asked the Shanghai police for a response.