But the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders warns of what it calls a "new wave of frenzied repression."
Last Sunday, security forces detained and harassed foreign reporters in Beijing. One American journalist was beaten so badly, he was hospitalized.
It happened in the Wangfujing shopping area. The journalists were there to report on a small group of people who answered Internet calls for public gatherings. These have been called to support the "jasmine revolutions" in North Africa and the Middle East and to call for reform in China.
One activist detained in a Beijing hotel says the police told her she can go free after the National People’s Congress is over.
On Friday, a legislative spokesman said China will increase defense spending by almost thirteen percent. This has been about the average since nineteen eighty-nine, except for a smaller increase last year.
Chinese officials have pointed out that their defense budget is much smaller than the American total. But some experts say China spends a lot more than its official amount.
China says it needs to modernize its forces. It says its plans are not a threat to any country.
Security expert James Nolt is dean of the New York Institute of Technology campus at Nanjing University in China. He says much of the defense increase will go toward rising costs for new equipment. He also says some of the money will be spent on higher wages for people with higher skills.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25