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TEN thousand doves were released in the name of peace on Tiananmen Square yesterday to mark the 65th anniversary of the People’s Republic’s founding.
But revelations that every single dove had been subjected to feather and anal checks for “dangerous materials” led to a storm of social media mockery of the supposedly solemn occasion.
Chinese authorities insisted on the checks due to fears over potential terrorism from Uighur separatists fighting for an Islamist state in the Xinjiang autonomous region.
They did not disclose what “dangerous materials” could have infiltrated the doves, although some form of chemical attack was the most likely worry.
President Xi Jinping struck a confident note in his anniversary address, praising the Communist Party’s achievements in eradicating poverty and flagging up new drives for universal healthcare and “hukou” reform to improve and expand welfare.
And he highlighted the importance of the past year’s mass line campaign aimed at rooting out corruption and democratising the party.
“We must never waver in our socialist faith and never separate ourselves from the people,” he said. “All tumours grown on the healthy body of the party must be removed.”
China’s increasing wealth could lull communists into a false sense of security: “A nation may thrive in adversity but perish at ease.”
Xi pledged to continue reforms to make the government more accountable, noting that the next plenary session of the party’s central committee set for October 20 to 23 will focus for the first time on promoting the rule of law.
