Chinas population control

For any nation’s leaders and governments interested in keeping a distinctive hold on developments in their country, population control is a not often talked about but essential tool.

China has, for a long time, recognized this and through phases increased its capability to control this factor. I will in this post go through the evolution of their capability in this regard and how they have carefully developed it.

Starting in Tibet they introduced a form of population control that was centered on neighbourhoods. In areas of interest they set up bases overlooking living quarters with a grid buildup of boxes where the corners were controlled. This was combined with a system of informants, as in for example, East Germany during the Cold War. Over time lessons were learned and the people of Tibet successfully subjugated. The use of informants in different forms also applies to the later stages described in this post. First, population control over urban areas was mastered.

Moving forward in time to Xinjiang another approach was implemented. After some high-profile terrorist attacks, a decision was made to go after what China’s government viewed as separatists with measures that could never have fit in the democratic frame. Camps were built where individuals were subjected to brainwashing. So called reeducation was performed on a massive scale. Second, population control by fear and brainwashing at scale, down to the individual level, was mastered.

In 2019-2020, massive protests erupted in Hong Kong. People there turned against a development that put the territory's legal terms on par with those ruling the mainland. After initially backing down in 2014, another push was made, finally resulting in the subjugation of the once autonomous region. Third, population control of massive protests was mastered.

The fourth evolutionary stage of China’s mastery of population control is constituted by their COVID-19 measures. Here, among other things, an advanced digital system of daily obligations enforced by anonymous personnel in hazmat suits was used. This combined with regional, city, district, neighborhood, block and even individual residents home lockdowns, led to the mastery of massive multilevel population control.

The study and effort going into these four types of population control could come in handy. For example, in a situation where Taiwan is occupied by force.

Finally, I want to highlight the risk that the above described lessons also could be perceived as attractive by governments lost in the delusion that a similar approach could constitute long-term competitive advantages.

Update 2026-08-21: Changed “Second, population control by fear and brainwashing on an individual level was mastered.” to “Second, population control by fear and brainwashing at scale down to the individual level was mastered.”

Update 2026-08-21: Changed “mastery of massive population control on an individual level.” to “mastery of massive multilevel population control.”

Update 2026-08-21: Corrected grammar and spelling (going through old posts using a new tool). The content of the text was not changed in any way.