Posted: 04 March 2005 1349 hrs
Heavy security as China's parliament prepares to convene
BEIJING : Heavy security was in place in Beijing with armed and plain clothes police patrolling buildings, streets, tunnels and railways as delegates to China's rubber-stamp parliament prepared for their annual sitting.
Maintaining social stability and creating a "harmonious society" are key themes of this year's National People's Congress (NPC) and authorities have been out in force to ensure the two objectives are met.
The nominal lower house, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), entered a second day of session Friday while the NPC, which is constitutionally the state's highest body, opens on Saturday.
Passing a law to prevent Taiwan from being separated from China, the safety of the country's coalmines and the growing income gap between rural and urban residents are also expected to be hot topics of discussion.
In Tiananmen Square opposite the Great Hall of the People where the parliament meets, red flags fluttered on a blustery day as sniffer dogs searched cars and scores of police mingled with tourists and Chinese citizens.
Across the capital, traffic management has been beefed up with many cars and trucks prohibited from entering the city to ease the flow of motorcades carrying senior political leaders.
Police cars have been equipped with global positioning systems to monitor traffic flows to ensure China's top decision makers arrive at the venue on time.
Concerned about possible terrorist attacks, a ban has been slapped on all paragliders, model airplanes and hot air balloons while at least 650,000 volunteers have been employed to hunt down and turn in potential troublemakers.
As of Tuesday, at least 448 people had been detained, Xinhua news agency said. Witnesses said many were forcibly held.
With leaders from across the country in Beijing, ordinary citizens see the meeting as a time to make their grievances heard, but are routinely prevented from doing so.
Xinhua cited People's Armed Police (PAP) Commander Wu Shuangzhan and Political Commissar Sui Taiming as ordering all PAP units "to ensure social stability of the whole country during the parliamentary season".
In Beijing, the PAP was "totally ready", they said.
Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, the rubber-stamp parliament has failed to oppose any policy or initiative put forward by the communist-led government.
- AFP
----------------------------------------
Spot the puns in the article?
