China has called for a crackdown on "hostile forces" that threaten national security ahead of an annual high-profile parliamentary meeting.
The demand was made by Luo Gan, China's top security official and one of nine members of the communist party's most elite decision making body, the Politburo, in the latest issue of the party's <i>Qiushi</i> magazine.
The National People's Congress session, which begins on Saturday, is typically a time when people with grievances head to Beijing to express their complaints. As a result, authorities are on high alert.
In the magazine, Luo stressed the importance of safeguarding stability in the Tibet and Xinjiang regions. He also said it was crucial to fight against the Falungong spiritual sect, outlawed as an "evil cult" by authorities in 1999.
"The disturbance and destruction from hostile forces in China and abroad constitutes a serious threat to social stability in a strategically important period in our country," Luo wrote. He said intelligence work must be stepped up to smash their activities. "We must insist on actively attacking them, as soon as they emerge, to take early action to keep the enemies under control," he said.
