The Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, yesterday strongly condemned the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement in his keynote speech to the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.
Mr Zhu promised "severe punishment" for "the small number of criminals" within Falun Gong, but hinted at leniency for those who were willing to mend their ways.
The Falun Gong condemnation is a clear signal that China will not be softening its position on the movement despite strong criticism from human rights groups, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson.
"We need to mete out severe punishment to the small number of criminals while making unremitting efforts to unite, educate and rescue the vast majority of people who have been taken in", he said.
Mr Zhu likened the battle against Falun Gong to the fight against terrorists, ethnic separatists and religious extremism. He said its criminal activities posed a threat to social order and national security.
Falun Gong was a cult which had become "a tool for domestic and overseas forces hostile to our socialist government".
In a 90-minute speech to the annual 10-day session of China's parliament, the Premier also unveiled a five-year blueprint for state spending and economic growth.
He forecast the economy would grow by 7 per cent a year between 2001 and 2005, slower than in the past five years.
In the short term, Mr Zhu said China would continue heavy state infrastructure spending and try to spur consumption. He warned that no time must be lost in preparing for China's entry into the World Trade Organisation.
On foreign policy, Mr Zhu called for dialogue leading to reunification with Taiwan, but presented no new ideas on how to get talks going. Since Mr Chen Shui-bian was elected President of Taiwan a year ago, China has shunned him because of his pro-independence past.
Mr Zhu surprised observers by making only a passing reference to corruption, which he included in a list of social and economic problems, such as water and energy shortages and backward technology and education. There are currently two major multi-billion dollar corruption investigations under way in China, with 200 convictions secured to date.
Mr Zhu also pledged to create jobs for urban workers made redundant by state sector reforms and improve the living standards of China's 900 million rural population.
The five-year plan aims to keep urban unemployment under 5 per cent in the 2001-2005 period. This would require creating 40 million jobs for new urban unemployed and 40 million places for people made redundant in the farm sector.
Mr Zhu said China must meet its social security obligations, an area that has led to a lot of unrest in the past.
"We need to ensure that basic living allowances for laid-off workers from State-owned enterprises and basic pensions for retirees are paid in full and on time," he said.
Reuters adds: Vice-President Hu Jintao has told deputies Beijing would stamp out separatism and curb "illegal" religious activities in Tibet, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mr Hu, widely tipped as the successor to President Jiang Zemin, said maintaining stability in Tibet required "cracking down hard on separatist activities and enhancing patriotic education of teenagers".
He also said China would speed economic development in Tibet, saying it was important for "strengthening ethnic unity and maintaining the unity of the motherland", Xinhua said.