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BEIJING : China's annual parliamentary season kicked off amid huge security on Monday, with tens of thousands of police and an army of volunteers manning the streets in a dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games.
About 2,000 delegates to a parliamentary advisory body began meeting on Monday at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing, two days before the main legislature, the National People's Congress, was due to convene.
As the proceedings got underway, hundreds of police and para-military forces were seen patrolling Tiananmen Square, which is next to the hall, and nearby buildings in a clear show of force.
In "a rehearsal for the Olympics", one million volunteers had also been brought in to help police maintain order and put additional eyes on the streets, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
"The volunteers were expected to accumulate experience (for the Olympics) and cultivate a harmonious social environment," Xinhua said.
Security and stability for China's communist rulers is always a top priority, especially so when events are held at Tiananmen Square, where the military used deadly force to crush pro-democracy protests in 1989.
And while the parliamentary season is a particularly sensitive time in this regard, analysts have said it is more so this year because it is the last major political event ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
"With the Olympic Games in Beijing, the priority for the Chinese leadership will still be stability," said Yang Jiang, a China expert at the University of Auckland.
"So I don't expect any substantial political reform or progress this year."
During the main parliamentary proceedings, the main issue of interest is widely expected to be the endorsements of new positions for the next generation of leaders as they continue to be groomed to take over in five years.
Xi Jinping, 54, a former party chief of Shanghai, is tipped to be appointed vice president, putting him on track to succeed Hu Jintao as president by mid-2013.
Li Keqiang, 52, is also likely to be made executive vice premier during the parliamentary session, signalling that he would eventually replace Wen Jiabao as premier.
Amid these political machinations in which ordinary Chinese have no say, Beijing's top communist official, Liu Qi, stressed the importance of stability during the parliamentary proceedings.
"Every government department and enterprise must raise their political consciousness and fully complete services and security work... to safeguard the meeting," the Beijing Daily on Monday quoted Liu as saying.
Beijing's entire force of about 50,000 policemen were on special alert for the meetings, while additional members of the para-military police had also been brought in, according to the Wenhui Daily newspaper.
Rights activists in Beijing also said they had received warnings from police to curb their activities during the parliamentary meetings.
"Police always call up or visit dissidents during the two meetings and tell them not to make any trouble," veteran activist and social critic Liu Xiaobo told AFP.
Police last week detained veteran petitioner Wang Guilan as she prepared to publicise a petition signed by 12,700 people calling for parliament to help safeguard human rights and end corruption, activists said.
The advisory body, the China People's Political Consultative Conference, is due to sit for 11 days.
The full session of the main legislature, featuring about 3,000 delegates, is also expected to last for just under two weeks. - AFP/de
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