VZCZCXRO5129
OO RUEHCN
DE RUEHBJ #3853/01 0611241
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021241Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9123
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2025 
TAGS: PGOV ECON PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: CHINA'S LEGISLATIVE SESSION TO FOCUS ON ECONOMY; 
CONSENSUS TO SUPPORT BUILDING RURAL AREAS 
 
Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief 
Kin Moy.  Reasons 1.6 (b,d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) China's annual spring political theater, known 
locally as "the two meetings," kicks off on March 3 
with the opening session of China's leading 
consultative body followed by the opening of the 
annual legislative session on March 5.  No major 
personnel changes are expected this year and the focus 
of discussions will be on the 11th Five-Year Program 
for the economy in 2006-2010.  Scholars and NPC 
insiders said they do not expect major disagreements 
to emerge during the meetings, but said differences 
exist over implementation.  As in past years, 
Beijing's police have been busy detaining activists 
and petitioners in a bid to minimize the possibility 
of embarrassing protests.  Security and other 
elaborate measures are part of the careful 
choreography that will allow the Chinese Government to 
present a facade of unity and stability to its people 
and the outside world.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) China's National People's Congress, 
technically the highest organ of state power, will 
convene its annual legislative session this year on 
March 5-14.  This national political pageant, which 
runs in parallel with the largely ceremonial Chinese 
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) 
session from March 3-12, is designed by the Chinese 
Communist Party leadership to confirm and to project 
popular support for Party decisions and policies.  The 
session agenda, reports and votes are all carefully 
choreographed and leave little to chance. 
Nonetheless, the "two meetings" provide an important 
window on Chinese politics, policy direction and 
public perceptions of the Government.  The nearly 
3,000 deputies have begun to stream into the capital 
from all over China, toting cameras, zooming around in 
motorcades and flooding hotels and tourist sites. 
 
Focus on Economics 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C) The focus of this year's legislative session, 
and the simultaneous CPPCC sessions, will be 
discussion and approval of the next Five-Year Program 
for the economy for the years 2006-2010.  In addition 
to highlighting earlier leadership themes of 
"scientific development" and "harmonious society," 
Premier Wen Jiabao will make his case for "altering 
China's economic growth model" to focus on boosting 
rural areas and improving the quality of growth. 
 
¶4.  (C) Much of the Five-Year Program discussion will 
be focused on the latest leadership slogan, "Building 
a New Socialist Countryside."  This idea, which 
stresses rural infrastructure and public goods, was 
elaborated in the recently published Number 1 Document 
(see septel).  Experts note that there is broad 
consensus over the need to give more of the national 
pie to rural areas.  "Everyone recognizes that this is 
a moral imperative at this stage in China's 
development," stated rural expert Wen Tiejun. 
 
¶5.  (C) Where disagreements are likely to arise, 
however, is in discussions of specific funding 
proposals and the share paid by various levels of 
government to support Central Government initiatives. 
Legal scholar and NPC expert Cai Dingjian said closed- 
door discussions over paying for rural initiatives 
would likely be "lively."  He predicted that 
differences would be papered over for public 
consumption, however, and that disagreements over 
policy implementation would continue in government 
circles long after the NPC's close.  Li Fan, an expert 
on rural governance and fiscal policies, said he 
expected few surprises from the NPC session.  Although 
there may be differing opinions on policy, discussions 
within NPC delegations will remain polite with details 
to be hashed out later. 
 
Leadership Jockeying 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) There are no important personnel changes on 
the agenda, according to NPC staffer Cheng Zhiqiang, 
who said that this year's sessions are viewed as being 
"fairly routine."  With a major Party Congress just 
over a year away, however, local Party leaders will be 
 
BEIJING 00003853  002 OF 002 
 
 
looking to impress leaders in Beijing.  Observers will 
also be watching to see whether Vice Premier Huang Ju, 
who has just undergone surgery for an unspecified 
ailment, puts in an appearance at the sessions.  A 
well-connected contact at Caijing magazine earlier 
told the Embassy that Huang had cancer but that his 
prognosis was unknown.  Whether Huang is able to 
return to work or not, it seems certain that the 
leadership will not move to replace him in the near 
term. 
 
Media Focus 
----------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The main highlights for the more than 4,000 
foreign journalists who have registered to cover the 
event will be China's economic targets and policy 
direction, comments on foreign and domestic policy 
made by Foreign Minister Li and Premier Wen at their 
press conferences, comments on the cross-Strait 
situation, published budget increases in defense 
spending (increases in excess of ten percent for the 
past several years) and the new emphasis on rural 
investment and addressing rural instability.  Chinese 
media will offer relentless coverage of the sessions, 
steering away from potential controversy and focusing 
on how deputies are serving the people and 
representing their concerns.  There has already been 
substantial media coverage of the jump in petitioning 
to NPC deputies and we expect there will be many more 
stories about how deputies have worked to address 
various issues. 
 
Security Out in Force 
--------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) As in past years, security forces are taking 
preventive measures to ensure that the NPC session 
unfolds without any major incidents.  Petitioners near 
Beijing's South Train Station were rounded up and 
other rights activists held in house arrest to prevent 
them from making disturbances during the meetings.  An 
estimated 50-70 activists participating in a 
nationwide rotating hunger strike led by activist 
attorney Gao Zhisheng have been singled out for 
particular attention prior to the NPC session.  Some 
activists, including Hu Jia, Qi Zhiyou and Zhao Xin, 
have disappeared.  However, some intellectuals who 
refused to take part in Gao's hunger strike report 
that they are at liberty ahead of the NPC meetings for 
the first time in years.  They include house Christian 
Yu Jie and PEN Center co-chair Liu Xiaobo. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) At a Ministry of Public Security (MPS) news 
conference March 2, Deputy Director General for Public 
Security Management Xu Hu finessed a question from a 
Hong Kong journalist about petitioner arrests.  He 
denied the roundups while adding that the police will 
nonetheless "persuade" people who have been "idling in 
Beijing for a long time without a proper job, fixed 
residence or stable income" to go back to their home 
provinces.  In addition, Xu told journalists that the 
Beijing Public Security Bureau is beefing up its 
presence in the city during the NPC timeframe. 
Official media reported that a special force of some 
15,000 police will patrol the capital and be deployed 
at "key security positions." 
Sedney