BEIJING (AFP) - China's annual parliamentary season kicked off amid huge security 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 were due to begin meeting on Monday, two days before the National People's Congress opened at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing
Hundreds of police and para-military police were seen patrolling Tiananmen Square, which is next to the hall, and nearby buildings and hotels in a clear show of force aimed at maintaining security.
"The meeting of parliament is an important political event for the entire nation," the Beijing Daily quoted the capital's top party official, Liu Qi, as saying in a speech last week.
"Every government department and enterprise must raise their political consciousness and fully complete services and security work by bringing all their resources in play toward safeguarding the meeting."
The Beijing city government has long viewed this parliamentary season as having particular importance because it is the last major political event in the capital ahead of the August Olympics.
"In recent days, the Beijing public security department held an important meeting entitled 'a safe and sound Olympics' that was aimed at maintaining the security of the parliamentary meeting," the Wenhui Daily said.
Beijing's entire force of about 50,000 policemen were on special alert for the two meetings, while "several hundred thousand" volunteers were in place to help police, according to the paper.
Political dissidents and rights activists around the capital said they had received warnings from police to curb their activities during the parliamentary meetings, veteran activist and social critic Liu Xiaobo told AFP.
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, which begins on Wednesday, will last for about the same amount of time.
dissident a person who dissents from some established policy
