Security stepped up to check 'strolling' protests in China

The Chinese capital felt a whiff of 'Jasmine Revolution' sweeping the Arab nations as hundreds of police turned a kilometre-long commercial street into a veritable fortress, deterring "strolling protests" called by US-based dissident website, Buxon.com in Beijing and 17 other cities to oppose the Communist Party rule.

People had been asked to 'Jaywalk' to escape any crackdown around 2:00 pm for the second Sunday in a row.

Wangfujing, city’s commercial hub located a stone throw from the historic Tiananmen Square, the scene of 1989 anti-government protests, witnessed a tense stand off for hours, as police seemed to outnumber pedestrians. Contingents of police trailed everyone on the street to prevent any semblance of protests.

Hours before the planned "protests", Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held a live chat with "netizens" promising several populist measures, including cutting down China's famous double digit GDP to ensure focus on improving livelihoods of people.

He said in the next five years the government would focus on seven per cent GDP growth target, highlighting the need to raise the quality of growth and improve living standards.

China's economy grew at an annual rate of about 10 percent from 2006 to 2010.
"We'll never seek a high economic growth rate and size at the price of the environment, as that would result in unsustainable growth with industrial overcapacity and intensive resource consumption," Wen said.

"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.

Added to the tense atmosphere at the popular street in the heart of the capital was the presence of large contingent of foreign media and diplomats of different countries, keeping close watch to any hint of protests called by Buxon.com in Beijing and other cities to oppose the Communist Party rule.

While the foreign media here had no clue about the depth of support among the Chinese for such a call, it appeared to have made the government nervous, specially coming in the background of spontaneous protest in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and several other autocratic Arab and Gulf states. The government seemed determined to nip all protests in the bud.

In the end, foreign media was left in a quandary as no visible protests were noticed. However, in response police sealed off many roads to Wangfujing, which attracts thousands of shoppers on weekends.

Accreditation cards of foreign correspondents were video graphed before allowing them though select routes onto the street.

Many people visiting the area said they were told that the security arrangements were tight due to the visit of a VVIP to the area.

The entire atmosphere around the KFC restaurant at Wangfujing in Beijing, where the protests was called, suddenly turned tense at 2:00 pm, with police asking everyone, including the foreign media, to clear the street.

Some were seen being questioned, while others were pushed away. Besides pushing and shoving, police ensured that people cleared the road quickly.

The street came alive again an hour later when the police gradually withdrew, allowing the people to stroll again.

Reports of show of strength by police came from Shanghai and several other cities. Security forces blew whistles nonstop and shouted at people to keep moving in a bid to prevent any large gathering.

This was the second Sunday in a row that Wangufujing witnessed the protest drama.

Last week, large groups of people gathered there as well as a similar square in Shanghai which were quickly dispersed.

Ahead of the planned protests, Wen in his chat with "netizens" said ensuring fair income distribution will be an important task of the government.

About growing concerns over the increasing divide between rich and poor, which according to many surveys emerged as major concern for Chinese people, Wen said ensuring fair income distribution will be an important task of the government as it has direct bearing on social justice and fairness as well as social stability.

During the past two years, Wen held such annual live chats ahead of the session of the country’s legislature, National Peoples Congress, (NPC), which is scheduled to hold its session early next month.

Also in a move to please rising middle class, his government plans to raise the threshold of personal income tax.

Currently, China's income tax threshold stands at a monthly income of 2,000 yuan (USD303).

He also said an important aspect for China's higher-learning education reform is to encourage students' creative spirit and independent thinking, in a bid to foster more high-calibre talents.

More than six million students graduate from universities in China every year.
He promised to control the inflation which during the previous months reached 5.1 per cent. According to latest figures, the inflation was stated to be around 4.9 per cent.