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Beijing vows cleaner, stable city for Olympics
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-17 14:29
China's capital faces a host of problems preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, but its top official pledged on Thursday the city would be stable, cleaner and more civilised.
"From beginning to end, stability must be our number one political task," Beijing's Communist Party boss, Liu Qi, who outranks the mayor, told more than 730 delegates at the opening of the city's party congress, held once every five years.
The party, which has monopolised power since the 1949 revolution, is obsessed with stability and has no qualms about crushing open challenges to its rule or silencing dissent.
Beijing hopes to maintain peace and order by "dealing a blow to criminal activities in accordance with the law", he said.
But Liu also said the society would be more "harmonious" -- a watchword coined by national party chief Hu Jintao -- because channels for people to air their grievances were more open.
The government would step up audits to curb corruption and ensure the Olympics are clean and frugal, Liu said.
No personnel changes were announced on the first day of the six-day congress. Sources with ties to the leadership have told Reuters that Mayor Wang Qishan is tipped to be named party boss of the booming southern province of Guangdong ahead of a national party congress in the autumn.
The government will endeavour to increase per capita GDP of Beijing residents to $10,000 from $6,000 over the next five years, Liu said, adding that the pace of Beijing's "urbanisation, marketisation, internationalisation and modernisation" would be accelerated.
"The task of maintaining social equity is increasingly difficult," Liu said, referring to a widening wealth gap which has spawned protests nationwide.
The economic boom has come at a price, making Beijing one of the world's most polluted cities. The capital is regularly blanketed in thick smog despite government efforts to improve air quality.
Liu promised to reduce emissions of pollutants and meet the national target by 2010.
Beijing has said it would close coal mines, move power stations and relocate chemical factories and other heavy polluters including the further dismantling of the city's Shougang steelworks, in a bid to meet environmental targets.
The city is also trying to reduce the fumes from coal burned for heating but there is now the problem of the nearly three million cars in the capital -- a tally increasing by 1,110 a day.
Beijing's notoriously congested streets are a concern. The city is hoping a 100 billion yuan ($13 billion) investment in public transport will be enough to keep the traffic flowing during the Games.
An International Olympic Committee inspection team visited Beijing in April and wanted more details of contingency plans to improve air quality and the traffic flow.
Liu said Beijing still lagged behind the world's modern cities in terms of civility.
The government has concentrated its efforts on stamping out spitting, littering and queue-jumping in an attempt to present a modern, civilised city to the world in August next year.
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