ARMED POLICE in black jumpsuits and Communist Party volunteers sporting red armbands are patrolling Beijing ahead of the start tomorrow of the annual Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the advisory body to China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress.
Security is always tight for the annual parliament and the usual dissidents have been rounded up ahead of the “two meetings” (liang hui) in the Great Hall of the People.
The hall has been bedecked with red flags and will ring with Marxist-Leninist rhetoric, plus the kind of choreographed rounds of applause rarely seen since the end of the cold war. However, this year security has been tightened up after anonymous online calls on overseas websites for weekly protests, similar to the Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East.
While China’s economy is strong and its leadership is generally popular, the unrest in north Africa has clearly rattled the leadership’s nerves. Journalists have been warned off going to certain hot spots in Beijing and Shanghai.
On Sunday, plainclothes security officers targeted foreign journalists trying to report on demonstrations, beating up several correspondents, even though there were few protesters in sight.
Against a background of efforts to ensure social stability, the congress has much to discuss. Delegates draft Bills to be approved by the parliament, which always pass, but are closely watched to see if they garner unanimous approval or whether a vocal number abstains or even, rarely, opposes one.
The main work of the congress will be to introduce the 12th five-year plan, which runs from 2011 through to 2015 and aims at creating a more sustainable economy.
“We want to put the emphasis of our work on the quality and the benefits of economic growth. We want the fruits of development to benefit the people,” premier Wen Jiabao said in online chat, adding that the government would boost food supplies and tackle surging property prices.
The plan aims to pursue average economic growth rates of 7 per cent, compared to 10 per cent in the previous blueprint, aiming to cool fears of overheating prices and help reduce damaging pollution.
On the face of it, there is no comparison between booming China and impoverished north Africa. China’s economy grew by 10.3 per cent last year and the government has substantially improved the lot of its citizens , taking hundreds of millions off the poverty line.
However, rising food and housing prices are causing hardship and corruption among cadres makes daily headlines and feeds simmering resentment at abuse of privilege. Land grabs by unscrupulous real estate developers and the widening gap between the rich urbanites and poor farmers are also causing dissatisfaction.
With this in mind, the leadership will be addressing what they see as the root causes of unrest.
Greater efforts will be made to boost social development and progress, especially in those key sectors and aspects concerning national development and mass interests, Mr Wen said in his online chat, and he also spoke of the need to put China higher on the value chain.
“The whole world is talking about China’s rise, and what the people talk about most is [China’s] GDP, but I think China’s rise lies in talents and education,” he said.
The government will propose a Bill that raises the threshold of taxable personal income to help Chinese households cope with the rising cost of living.