China boosts security ahead of Party Congress

China is tightening security for next month’s twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, cancelling police leave in Beijing, limiting tourism to Tibet, and clamping down on the spread of political rumors. High-level meetings in China are typically accompanied by a security crackdown – as well as uncharacteristically smog-free blue skies – with the stability-obsessed party not wanting to run the risk that anyone or anything offers a distraction. Thousands of policemen from other provinces have been sent to the Chinese capital to reinforce, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A second source, with ties to the country’s security forces and citing conversations with senior police officers, said all police leave in Beijing had been canceled starting from early September. Beijing Communist Party chief Cai Qi on Wednesday asked the city for “120%” effort to ensure safety for the congress, the official Beijing Daily said.