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Beijing tightens grip on law and order
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam CNN Senior China Analyst
(CNN) -- Beijing has for the first time in a quarter century named a Politburo member to head the Ministry of Public Security. Former party boss of Sichuan Province Zhou Yongkang last weekend took charge of China's 1.6 million-strong police forces. The unusual appointment has underscored the central leadership's commitment to fighting crime and related problems including subversion and cult-related activities. State media reported on Tuesday that Zhou had replaced Minister of Public Security Jia Chunwang, who will soon be made head of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The last time that a minister of public security was accorded Politburo status was in the mid-1970s, when former Communist party chairman Hua Guofeng doubled as police chief. Moreover, newly promoted member of the Politburo Standing Committee Luo Gan will remain Secretary of the party's Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the country's highest organ in charge of police and judicial work. The official People's Public Security Paper quoted Zhou as saying the authorities would crack down hard on efforts by "enemy forces within and outside China" to infiltrate, subvert and sabotage public order. Falun Gong targetedZhou, 60, also indicated the police would target the Falun Gong spiritual movement as well as illegal activities by terrorist and separatist groups. Moreover, the new police chief pointed out more work would be done to defuse "contradictions within the people," a code word for instability caused by disgruntled elements such as laid-off workers. Political analysts in Beijing said it was rare that two Politburo members would handle the law-and-order portfolio. They said this reflected the deteriorating internal security situation, which was expected to worsen in the wake of growing unemployment among urban and rural workers. Zhou, believed to be close to National People's Congress Chairman Li Peng, is also slated to become First Political Commissar of the People's Armed Police, a para-military force often used to quell internal disturbances. During his tenure as the No. 1 official in Sichuan, Zhou was believed to have played a role in cracking down on underground, pro-independence Tibetan groups within the western province.
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