The police get a new flag amid purge
Politics & Current Affairs
Defenders of American police forces say they are a “thin blue line” protecting society from chaos. Does China’s new police flag symbolize a big, fat blue line?
In July, a senior adjutant of Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 announced a campaign to clean up China’s police and criminal justice systems, although critics say its main purpose is to further secure Xi’s hold on power and eliminate political enemies.
Last week, the purge took down its biggest target to date: Shanghai’s police chief (who was also vice-mayor of the city). Police and other officials of China’s security apparatus must all be having nightmares right now, but at least they now have a new flag, Xinhua reports.
- The flag is red with a thick blue line or bar at the bottom, and the official police emblem in the top-left corner.
- Xi “conferred the police flag on China’s police force, ordering them to be loyal to the Party, serve the people and be impartial in law enforcement and strict in discipline.”
