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People First policies can nip any 'jasmine' blooms

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Last week, Zhao Qizheng, a top government adviser and former minister of the State Council Information Office, told overseas reporters the mainland faced no risk of a 'jasmine revolution' like those in the Middle East.

But the overwhelming show of police force in the downtown district of Beijing and several other major cities painted a different picture yesterday - one that is likely to be interpreted by overseas media as showing the level of the Chinese leaders' nervousness.

That may be true, but the display of force is more of an emphatic sign that top leaders are ready to nip in the bud any kind of protest or gathering that is modelled on the recent movements, which have led to regime changes in the Middle East.

Mao Zedong's famous saying of many decades ago - 'a single spark can start a prairie fire' - has always been a motto for mainland leaders.

In fact, they expect to maintain high-level security nationwide, particularly in Beijing, in the run-up and throughout the annual sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which opens on Thursday, and the National People's Congress, which opens on Saturday.

Judging by the editorials and commentaries in the overseas media in the past few weeks, they have largely shared Zhao's view, citing the mainland's robust economic growth and plenty of opportunities to find jobs as well as the mainlanders' distaste for instability.

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