中國推行網格化管理 China reverts to grid management to monitor citizens’ lives

China is rolling out a nationwide system of social control known as “grid management” in a revival of state presence in residential life that had receded as society liberalised during recent decades.

隨着近幾十年中國社會的開放，國家的身影原本已漸漸淡出居民生活。現在中國正在推行一個叫做“網格化管理”的全國性社會管控體系，讓國家的身影重新出現在居民生活中。

From smog-blanketed towns on the North China Plain to the politically sensitive Tibetan capital of Lhasa, small police booths and networks of citizens have been set up block by block to reduce neighbourhood disputes, enforce sanitation, reduce crime — and keep an eye on anyone deemed a troublemaker.

從華北平原霧霾籠罩的城鎮，到具有政治敏感性的西藏首府拉薩，小型警務站和居民網絡在一個又一個街區建立起來，目的是減少鄰里糾紛、實施衛生管理、減少犯罪，以及監控任何被視爲麻煩製造者的人。

The rollout coincides with a broader tightening of state control over civil society and crackdown on dissent under President Xi Jinping.

網格化管理體系的推出，適逢國家在更大範圍內收緊對公民社會的管控和對異見的壓制。

“The grid management system is an attempt by the authorities to re-establish its control over individuals,” said Li Dun, an expert in public management at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “The aim is to reinstate the idea of upholding the party’s leadership.”

“網格化管理體系是當局重新確立對個人的控制的一次嘗試，”清華大學公共管理問題專家李楯表示，“其目的是重新樹立‘堅持黨的領導’的理念。”

An earlier system of neighbourhood committees, which monitored every urban citizen, has declined since the mid-1990s as private housing became more common and social controls faded. “Grid management” also harks back to the baojia system of the ancient Chinese dynasties, when groups of neighbours were responsible for mutually enforcing proper behaviour.

自上世紀90年代中期以來，隨着私有住房變得更爲普遍、社會管控消減，曾經監控每一個城鎮居民的居委會體系日漸式微。“網格化管理”還讓人想起中國古代王朝的“保甲”制度，該制度把若干戶編成一組，讓同一組的居民相互督促，確保每個人的行爲舉止符合規範。