An appalling human rights violation in China demands your attention. A recent case of teenage bullying in Jiangyou, Sichuan, sparked nationwide outrage after a video went viral online, in which the perpetrator boasted, “I’ve been to the police station more than ten times — they let me out within 20 minutes each time.”

The bullying scandal has led to extensive calls into question the effectiveness of policing and the juvenile justice system in China.

With the fallout from the incident growing, local residents spontaneously organized multiple peaceful gatherings calling for a lawful and transparent resolution.

Although these gatherings remained orderly and restrained, authorities responded with indiscriminately violent assualts by riot police against the large crowd, forcibly dispersing protestors from public spaces.

The response was not one of accountability, but of preemptive force— driven by the need to maintain social stability ahead of the upcoming 2025 World Games in Chengdu, just a few miles away from Jiangyou where the anti-bullying protests broke out. In prioritizing an unblemished international image over social justice, local officials have narrowed the space for public expression to the point of suffocation, treating legitimate public demands as risks to be contained.

What concerns us is the increasingly instrumentalized approach the Chinese government has adopted in managing public sentiment. The term “public opinion” is increasingly becoming hollowed out in China, deliberately pathologizing normal public expression.

Ironically, "public opinion" has instead become a means of monitoring and suppressing public expression. This has further heightened the hostility between state and society, making meaningful interaction and resolution of social conflicts nearly impossible.

Under the logic of “stability above all,” every social issue becomes an image crisis, and every dissonant response is viewed as a disruption. This approach not only stifled resolution, but also covered up human rights abuses with manufactured calm and peace. Not only did the victim of the bullying suffer secondary harm from the police’s brutal crackdown, but ordinary citizens who came to support the bullied teenager were also indiscriminately beaten by the police.

We call on the International World Games Association to take a clear and public stance. As a renowned international event, the World Games cannot take place on soil where civic rights are suppressed and voices are erased. The spirit of sport must not serve as a cover for institutional violence or be used to legitimize repression.

From: An independent collective monitoring grassroots resistance and civil rights in China

@lexpsy
@UNChildRights1
@SophieKiladze
@BVanKeirsbilck
@askelton_CCL
@TheWorldGames
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四川江油市近日发生一起未成年人霸凌事件，视频中施暴者声称“都进去警察局十多次了，二十分钟就放出来”。这起霸凌丑闻随机引起社会对执法效力和未成年人司法机制的广泛质疑。

随着事件持续发酵，当地居民自发发起多场和平集会，呼吁依法公正处理案件。尽管现场秩序始终克制，当局竟仍出动警力无差别袭击示威人群，强制暴力清场。这一回应并非基于追责或司法正义，而是出于“预防性控制”的政治需求——因为成都即将举办世界运动会，维持政治稳定被视为压倒一切的目标。为确保一个“完美无瑕”的国际形象，公众表达的空间已被压缩至近乎窒息，正当的民间诉求被当作风险加以压制。

我们担忧的是，中国政府多年来对公共情绪的处理方式，已日趋工具化。“舆情”这一术语已经空心化，正常的公共表达也已被病理化。这种情况进一步加深了国家与社会之间的对立，使有意义的互动与社会矛盾的实际解决变得不可能。

“稳定压倒一切”的逻辑，将任何社会问题转化为形象危机，任何不和谐的反应都被视为威胁。这不仅使问题难以实际解决，还用表面和谐掩盖人权劣迹。不仅霸凌受害者因为警方的粗暴对待遭受了二次伤害，连声援受害者的普通市民也遭到警方无差别殴打。

我们呼吁国际世界运动总会（IWGA）表明立场：一场令人尊敬的国际赛事，不能在压制人权、剥夺公民声音的土地上举行。体育精神不应成为权力洗白的遮羞布，也不能为制度性暴力提供背书。