This entire article is nothing but speculation on why certain actions might have been taken or what other horrible actions the Chinese may take. Having lived and worked in China for a while, I am disgusted at the portrayal of them here, speaking of them like they have Joseph Goebbels at the helm of their propaganda-fueled regime. This is so far from the truth it's ridiculous. If you watch the news in China, it looks identical to the news in the US. It's even more annoying because of its clickbait headline, which makes you think they'll be censoring certain photos taken there or something nefarious like that. Spoiler alert: It's not. There's a park that will be closed across the street from the meeting, and the author doesn't even know if that is at the request of the Chinese or not... but it must be, because the Chinese are evil. Also, alluding to the idea that the Chinese people who try to see Xi Jinping and cheer for him might be forced to do so? It's disgusting and preposterous that anyone with no proof of such things would make that assumption. I could go on but frankly this low-effort mudslinging article is not worth the effort.
I have lived in China for 9 years, and my wife is Chinese. I have been involved more in other social media than here in hubski, and I do usually share both good and bad. Of course it is speculation, the visit hasn't happened yet, but then check if Lafayette Park is usually closed during foreign head of state visits ( I am not American, but the search I've been doing let me to believe is not that common). If you know about the United Front, then you probably know that they are very active in foreign universities and social media. How about the recent crackdown on VPNs and the coercion by Chinese police to the developer of Shadowsocks to remove his code from github (not to mention the numerous DDoS attacks to github from China). If you watch the news in China, the news only portray what the government wants to portray, you don't need to go further than to Black Monday some weeks ago and their narrative that the crash didn't have anything to do with China. Of course nobody believed that and that was a piece directed to the Chinese audience. Even my wife's Weixin acts weird when she posts something against the government official mouth work. (again, most recently during the Black Monday crash). Take it as you will, but nobody can't deny that Xi has adopted a hard stance compared to Hu. Also, horrible is in your vocabulary, not in the linked article. Nobody is comparing them to Goebbels but yourself. edit: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/world/asia/china-president-xi-jinping-state-visit-to-washington.html?_r=0Activists and their family members in China and in the US have been told by Chinese authorities not to participate in protests during the visit, threatening unspecified consequence
as known as Government blacklists, good luck if you end up in one. China’s chief protocol officers were in Washington a few weeks ago, reviewing every step of the trip. One of their requests: United States security personnel guarantee that protesters will be kept out of sight and earshot of Mr. Xi. The Chinese worry that protesters from Falun Gong, the spiritual sect, or critics of China’s policies in Tibet might appear in the same camera frame as Mr. Xi. In 2006, a Falun Gong protester disrupted a reception for President Hu on the White House lawn, an episode Mr. Xi’s trip planners do not want repeated.