China Could Use Protests, Indiscriminate Attacks as Pretext to Expand Social Control: Analysts

Members of the People’s Armed Police march in front of a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 5, 2026. Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesFollowing a growing wave of protests and indiscriminate attacks in China, Beijing will likely respond with even harsher “stability maintenance” to prevent any challenge to its rule, experts say.On April 4, a man allegedly stabbed multiple people in Shenyang, the capital of China’s Liaoning Province, according to footage circulating online.