蔡奇，浙江松阳县人，中共政治局常委、中央办公厅主任，被广泛视为习近平最忠实的亲信之一。他的仕途紧随习近平，从福建到浙江再到北京，凭借对上级意志的完全服从和绝对表态，快速跻身中共高层。他将忠诚凌驾于一切治理标准之上，以取悦最高权力者作为首要目标。
蔡奇执政北京期间，以大规模驱逐外来务工人员而闻名。2017年大兴火灾后，北京在他的主导下发起“安全隐患整治”行动，大批非京籍人口在寒冬深夜被强行赶出住所，缺乏安置、补偿，数以万计的家庭流落街头。此后“低端人口清退”成为常态，城乡接合部出租房大规模拆除，部分地区断水断电逼迁，普通居民失去栖身之地。海外中文媒体（如自由亚洲电台、德国之声等）多次以“酷吏治京”形容其人口清退政策。
在城市管理中，蔡奇长期依赖运动式整治和强制手段。不经公开程序的违建清理、商铺封堵、棚户拆迁等行动一再发生，甚至出现“凌晨贴封条、夜间拆房”的现象。维权居民遭遇执法力量强制驱离，民众权利被行政命令轻易碾压。他的治理模式以数字指标为导向，将弱势群体当作可以轻易牺牲的代价。
新冠疫情防控时期，蔡奇推行极端的“动态清零”措施。北京多地小区被铁皮、铁丝网封死，长时间封控限制出行，居民生活物资匮乏，患者就医受阻，有人因延误治疗丧生。防疫工作高度政治化，其核心任务是展示控制力和维稳成效，民众生活代价无人问责。2022年11月北京爆发“白纸运动”，民众不满长期封控，蔡奇的防疫政策遭集中指责。
在他的仕途中忠诚高于能力、控制高于治理，普通百姓的尊严和权利从来不在考量之列。
作者/编辑：胡丽莉
责任编辑：罗志飞
翻译：郭斌
The Ruthless Enforcer: Cai Qi
Cai Qi, a native of Songyang County, Zhejiang Province, is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo and Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee. He is widely regarded as one of Xi Jinping’s most loyal confidants. Cai’s political career has closely followed Xi’s path—from Fujian to Zhejiang and then to Beijing—and his rapid rise to the upper echelons of the CCP has been built on absolute obedience to the will of his superior and unwavering public displays of loyalty. For Cai, pleasing the supreme leader has always taken precedence over any standard of governance.
During his tenure as Beijing’s top official, Cai became infamous for the large-scale expulsion of migrant workers. After the 2017 Daxing fire, under his direction, Beijing launched a “safety hazard rectification” campaign in which vast numbers of non-Beijing residents were forcibly evicted from their homes on frigid winter nights, with no adequate resettlement or compensation. Tens of thousands of families were left on the streets. Since then, the “clear-out of the low-end population” became a norm. Massive demolitions of rental housing in urban–rural fringe areas, along with forced evictions through cutting off water and electricity, became routine. Ordinary residents lost their homes overnight. Overseas Chinese-language media such as Radio Free Asia and Deutsche Welle repeatedly described his population-clearing policy as the rule of a “ruthless enforcer” in Beijing.
In urban management, Cai has long relied on campaign-style crackdowns and coercive measures. Unauthorized demolitions of “illegal structures,” the sealing off of small businesses, and the razing of shantytowns without due public process occurred repeatedly—sometimes with “seals pasted at dawn and buildings torn down by night.” Residents who tried to defend their rights were forcibly removed by law enforcement. Under his governance model, driven by numerical targets, vulnerable groups were treated as expendable collateral.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cai enforced extreme “zero-COVID” measures. In many parts of Beijing, entire residential compounds were sealed off with iron sheets and barbed wire. Prolonged lockdowns restricted movement, leaving residents short of daily necessities; patients faced delays in medical treatment, and some died as a result. Pandemic control was highly politicized—its core mission was to display control and stability-maintenance success, with no accountability for the costs to people’s lives. In November 2022, Beijing saw the outbreak of the “White Paper Movement” as public anger mounted over prolonged lockdowns, and Cai’s pandemic policies became a focus of public criticism.
Throughout his career, loyalty has outweighed competence, and control has outweighed governance. The dignity and rights of ordinary citizens have never entered his calculus.
Author / Editor: Hu LiliExecutive Editor: Luo Zhifei Translation: Guo Bin
