China legislative meeting to focus on military spending, Olympics, administrative reforms

China announced another huge jump in defense spending and took a verbal shot at rival Taiwan on Tuesday when it announced the agenda for its annual legislative session.

The meeting of the National People's Congress starts Wednesday and will last two weeks.

NPC spokesman Jiang Enzhu told a press conference the legislature would "fully implement" decisions made at an October meeting of the Communist Party.

Jiang said that would include a 17.6 percent increase in military spending in China's annual budget. That follows an increase of nearly 18 percent last year and is the latest in a string of double-digit increases in defense spending since the early 1990s.

Much of China's military is focused on Taiwan. The two split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing considers the self-governing island its territory and has threatened military attack if Taiwan tries to formalize its de facto independence.

Jiang repeated warnings for Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to stop a pro-independence agenda.

Chen steps down soon after eight years as president. An election later this month to pick his successor will include a referendum asking if Taiwan should try to join the United Nations under that name instead of using its formal name of the Republic of China.

China sees the referendum as a step toward formal independence.

"If the Chen Shui-bian authorities should stubbornly continue down the path, they will surely pay a dear price," Jiang said.

He did not elaborate, other than saying the situation across the Taiwan straight was "grim and complex."

Jiang said the NPC would also carry out administrative reforms and elect top officials to replace people who are retiring.

He also said the meeting would be important for mobilizing the public to support the Beijing Olympics, which start Aug. 8.

The two weeks of meetings mark the apex of China's annual political calendar. The meetings are attracting greater attention this year ahead of the Olympics and with the sizzling economy throwing up ever greater challenges.

Most of the decisions to be announced were made already at last year's 17th Communist Party national congress, which appointed Hu Jintao to another five-year term as party leader and endorsed his plan to spread the benefits of rapid growth among all Chinese.

Pundits say a possible future Hu successor, Xi Jinping, is set to take on the vice president's spot, replacing influential party insider Zeng Qinghong.

The NPC is also expected to discuss proposals to boost government efficiency and reduce bureaucratic infighting, possibly by reducing the number of Cabinet agencies to about 20 from 28.

It will also address problems associated with fast economic growth, including rising prices and high housing costs. Led by an 18.2 percent jump in food costs, inflation _ worsened by crop-ravaging winter storms _ hit 7.1 percent in January, the highest level in 11 years.

But Jiang said the boy chosen by Beijing as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest figure, would not be a delegate to the NPC as had been rumored.

He said Gyaltsen Norbu had not reached the minimum age of 18 when delegates were elected.

In May 1995, the Dalai Lama chose 6-year-old Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama. The boy and his family disappeared soon after and have not been heard from since. Human rights groups say the boy has been under house arrest since, a claim China denies although officials refuse to say where he is.

Months later, Beijing named Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama.