Chinese police are cracking down on Halloween in Shanghai, dispersing costumed crowds and abducting people who appear in parks dressed for the holiday – all in an effort to “maintain good social order and public image.”

Although there is no official ban on Halloween, many viewed the strict enforcement measures on Saturday and Sunday as an attempt by the government to prevent a repeat of last year's parties, where costumed citizens took to the streets to protest the failed policies of their leaders and to make fun of the strict Corona measures -19 laws.

Last year's revelers went viral with costumes made of giant surveillance cameras, Covid testers and censored social media posts – infuriating authorities, who do not tolerate even the slightest criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.

Shanghai – the largest and most international city in mainland China – has traditionally enjoyed a higher level of freedom than other Chinese cities.

China watchers say the crackdown suggests the CCP continues to erode the few remaining freedoms in the communist nation.

This year, partygoers in Shanghai appeared to be wearing more traditional Halloween costumes, but even then police appeared to target some people while leaving others alone.

A man dressed as a skeleton was arrested in the Jing An nightlife district on Friday evening and escorted to a police building where he was told to remove his makeup.

A bar and restaurant owner in Jing An said that before the weekend festivities, local officials came to him and others and asked him to sign a pledge saying he would not host costume parties in their businesses.

The pledge claimed the district wanted to “maintain good social order and a public image,” the owner said.

Jing An police and Shanghai officials have not yet commented on the weekend's raids.

Over in the city's Zhongshan Park, residents already appeared to be able to celebrate freely on Saturday evening, albeit with a police presence nearby.

However, the celebrations were cut short at 10pm when police began cordoning off the park and forcing everyone to disperse, a witness told the BBC.

“As we left the park we were told to remove all of our hats. We were told that anyone coming out of that exit was not allowed to be masked,” the resident told the UK outlet.

“Shanghai shouldn’t be like this. It was always very tolerant.”

Many seemed to share this sentiment on China's popular social media site Wiebo, where one person claimed this was a sign that the government would continue to restrict public gatherings for fear of a return of pre-COVID protests. 19 crisis.

“Even in relatively open Shanghai, the level of freedom is constantly shrinking,” one user wrote.

With post wires