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Chinese state media slams calls for protests

Agence France Presse - March 6, 2011

Beijing – China's state media stepped up its criticism of calls for anti-government rallies on Sunday, saying stability is key amid concern that unrest sweeping the Middle East could spread to the Asian nation.

The reports came a day after a similar comment piece was published for the first time in a state-run newspaper, amid renewed online calls for citizens to gather in dozens of cities to participate in "strolling" demonstrations Sunday.

"Firstly we must recognise that some people with ulterior motives at home and abroad are using various means to incite 'street politics'," a report on the front page of the Beijing Youth Daily said.

"They are using the Internet to create and disseminate false information, incite illegal gatherings in a bid to bring the chaos in the Middle East and North Africa to China, to mess up China."

A report in the Jiefang Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece in Shanghai, carried a similar opinion piece, urging people to "maintain social harmony and stability."

"People must... highly cherish and consciously maintain hard-won stability like they take care of their own eyes," it said.

The anonymous calls for rallies each Sunday, inspired by popular uprisings in the Arab world, have heightened official concern about unrest in China amid growing resentment at issues such as a yawning wealth gap and corruption.

Reflecting this unease, an official budget report unveiled at the nation's annual parliament session on Saturday revealed plans to allocate 624.4 billion yuan ($95 billion) for law and order in 2011.

This represents a 13.8 percent jump from last year, and compares to a planned rise of 12.7 percent for national defence spending to 601.1 billion yuan.

Campaigners behind the so-called "Jasmine rallies" again called for people to gather in cities on Sunday, despite no apparent signs of protests last weekend amid heavy security at designated sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

Several foreign journalists who turned up at the site in a Beijing shopping street on February 27 were roughed up, and police have told reporters they could lose their permission to work in China unless they stick by new rules.

Wang Hui, head of the Beijing government's press office, said Sunday that the Jasmine rallies had no chance of succeeding in Beijing, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Once again, there were no obvious protests Sunday in the Chinese capital or in Shanghai, where the Peace Cinema – one of the designated sites – was closed, with uniformed and plainclothes police crowding its entrance.

At least 15 foreign journalists there were detained by police, one of the reporters involved, who refused to be named, told AFP. It was unclear how long they would be held.

Activists say more than 100 known dissidents and rights advocates have been rounded up in a huge crackdown since the protest calls.

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