A Chinese national flag flutters in front of the hammer and sickle logo of the
Chinese Communist Party in Beijing on November 4. REUTERS/Wilson Chu
Posted on 11/05/2002 3:28:41 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Suo Xincai pauses for a picture before a lush hill of plants topped with towering tropical palm trees brought to Beijing's Tiananmen Square despite near freezing temperatures.
Plain-clothes police brave the cold and shuffle to and fro, attempting to blend in with tourists while uniformed colleagues check identity papers of people entering the square.
Beijing, with Tiananmen at its heart, has whipped into a clean-up frenzy ahead of a key Communist Party congress due to start on Friday, with hordes of workers and police touching up the appearance of the capital and sweeping its streets of crime.
"It's beautiful," said Suo, a 40-year-old party member visiting for the first time in more than 20 years from Shanxi province. "I'm so happy to be here," he gushed.
Analysts expect the 16th Party Congress to usher in a new group of leaders when older cadres retire from vital party posts and the city is pulling out the stops to put on a good face.
Some 1,000 workers scraped 600,000 wads of chewing gum off the concrete square and the city government will levy fines of up to 50 yuan ($6.00) to those caught spitting out their gum.
Scores of red flags adorn the government buildings ringing the square and thousands of traditional red lanterns are strung up along Beijing's main thoroughfare, Chang An -- the Avenue of Eternal Peace.
New billboards splash "Long live the great Communist Party of China" and other slogans and troupes of performers have been staging song and dance shows to hail the pending congress.
JUST OBEYING ORDERS
The city also has beefed up a "strike hard" campaign against crime.
In September, security tsar Luo Gan said creating a stable social environment for "the triumphant convening" of the Party Congress was a "sacred duty" of all law enforcement officials.
On a quiet night last week, police barged into a popular Beijing night club and forced unwitting Chinese patrons to urinate into cups for a spot drug test. Foreigners were exempted.
"We're almost at the 16th Party Congress," explained one police officer. "We're just obeying orders."
State media have hailed the crackdown. In the five days to November 1, police broke 2,095 criminal cases and investigated 68 criminal gangs, the Beijing Daily reported on Monday.
For the Congress, police have been equipped with new gear ahead of the meeting, including cars, gas masks and bullet-proof helmets and vests, state media say.
Guards at the gates into town require all vehicles without Beijing license plates to show permits to enter the city, keeping non-city dwellers out, said one driver.
Roving vendors, who normally dot Beijing streets selling the likes of egg crepes, roast yams and lamb kebabs, are gone.
"Looks like you're going to have to wait another 10 days or so before you can get an egg crepe," said a parking attendant at one lot where a vendor used to sell the Beijing delicacy. "She came this morning, but was quickly shooed away by police."
Even the city's omnipresent illegal DVD hawkers were feeling the heat, although some of the shrewd ones had their means.
"There may be more police around now," said one middle aged man offering the latest Hollywood titles on a busy street corner for less than a dollar.
"But I pay them 5,000 yuan per month and it's the same this month as every other month. They're just putting on a clean face, but their hearts are still dirty."
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