BEIJING, July 20 (Kyodo) - By: Noah Smith Less than a week after victory July 13 in its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing's leadership has abruptly turned its attention against two of the most prominent bugbears to political stability -- Falun Gong and Tibetan separatists.
Immediately upon returning to the Chinese capital after leading a last-ditch pitch for Beijing before the final International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote in Moscow, Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing led a high-profile group of political and propaganda chiefs to the unveiling of an anti-Falun Gong exhibition at the People's Revolutionary Military History Museum.
Meanwhile, Vice President Hu Jintao -- often pegged first in line to succeed President Jiang Zemin -- was attending ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the ''Peaceful Liberation of Tibet'' and reminding the country of the need to end separatism and insure national unity.
''The international community told Beijing that to host the Olympics they need to be more attentive to human rights. Well, look here. this is their answer,'' one political analyst said, on condition of anonymity.
As China's state-controlled media moved on from covering the euphoria at winning the 2008 Games, space was quickly given to denouncing the Falun Gong religious organization, banned as an ''evil cult'' in China, and reassurances that a healthy Tibet must be firmly tied to Beijing.
China's newspapers, radio and television emphasized ''the evil teachings of Falun Gong destroy lives'' with feature articles and quasi-investigative news programs that told stories of people who gave up caring for their careers and families or refused medical treatment as a result of practicing Falun Gong.
Hu Jintao, in Lhasa to preside over Tibet anniversary festivities, had one message for the region where he oversaw the brutal crushing of Tibetan protests in the late 1980s as Tibet's Communist Party secretary.
''The past 50 years have brought to light a great truth -- only under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, only in the embrace of the motherland and only by resolutely taking the road of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is Tibet able to enjoy the progress and prosperity of today and an even better tomorrow,'' state media quoted him as saying Thursday.
China waited until this week to step up the dual campaigns partly because it did not want to offend international opinion in the run-up to the IOC vote, and partly because it now wants to set the tone early in what could be seven long years of battling dissent.
For those unhappy with the leadership, the Olympics will provide a golden opportunity to air grievances before the international media.
''There is a clear target, a place and a date set in stone...that can easily turn into a focus of struggle,'' said Jeremy Paltiel, a specialist in Chinese politics at Carleton University in Ottawa.
''The authorities will be vigilant,'' he said. ''Everything suggests (there will be) more rather than less surveillance.'' But as protesters feel encouraged by international press attention, things could come to a head and the response is likely to be ugly.
''The urge to resolve thorny problems by draconian means will offset the desire to present a pleasing 'panda face' to the world,'' he predicted, adding media attention may help to temper the crackdown.
China is already ''making deeper structural changes in its security forces'' to prepare for the kind of demonstrations that might accompany the 2008 games, according to U.S. think tank Strategic Forecasting. This includes training and equipping ''antiriot squads to develop a more effective, non-lethal'' force to combat protests, the group said in a Global Intelligence Update last week.
AP-NY-07-20-01 0550EDT
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service.