China to crackdown on hostile forces for Communist Party meet

DALIAN: Chinese police will intensify its monitoring and crackdown on "hostile forces and evil cults" in the run-up to the 17th national congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), a senior security official has said. "Police should strengthen information collecting work to closely monitor and strike hard on overseas and domestic hostile forces, religious extremists, violent terrorists and the Falun Gong cult so as to safeguard national security and social stability," Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang said. The once-in-five-year meet will summarise past experience, lay out future work and arrange improving and building the party. A new CPC Central Committee will be elected at the in-camera congress session. He warned, "the country was going through a period of outstanding disputes among the people, increased crime rates and complex struggles against hostile forces." Many uncertainties remain, Zhou said, adding that it was "an arduous task to maintain social harmony" although he acknowledged that the overall social and economic situation was largely favourable. Zhou asked police to uncover, report and handle disputes swiftly and resolve it at the grassroots level when they still remain at a budding stage and properly deal with mass incidents. "Efforts should also be made to strengthen guidance of the development of the internet in order to create a harmonious online environment," he said.