STR/AFP via Getty Images
Chinese police detained or dispersed Halloween revelers during what appeared to be a crackdown sparked by costumes that mocked government repression last year.
Witnesses said at least six people wearing costumes in Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park were rounded up and led off by cops Friday night.
A partygoer dressed as a skeleton was also stopped in the city’s Jing An district and taken to an administrative building to remove his makeup, the man told Reuters on Sunday.
Everyone who was taken into custody was required to provide their names, citizenship ID numbers and phone numbers before being released, the South China Morning Post said.
A person in Zhongshan Park on Friday told the BBC that the crackdown began around 10 p.m. when a group of officers arrived and cordoned off the area.
“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 said.
The cops clashed with a man who tried to enter the park, the person said.
A large contingent of police also rousted costumed people on Julu Road in downtown Shanghai, witnesses told the BBC.
Photos of last year’s Halloween celebration in Shanghai showed people dressed up as a surveillance camera, COVID-19 testers and a censored post on the Weibo social media website, according to the BBC.
But video clips posted on social media showed people being put into police vans while wearing far-less provocative outfits, including Batman and Deadpool costumes, the BBC said.
Officials didn’t announce the planned crackdown but businesses received notices that discouraged activities involving costumed adults, Reuters said.
