China's leadership gathers for secretive summit amid tight security

For a seaside resort where nothing is officially
happening, the town of Beidaihe in northern China
has a lot of security.
There is an armed police checkpoint on the outskirts.
We're stopped again for another passport check
further on.
Uniformed officers are stationed at regular intervals
along the roads, their plainclothes colleagues,
identifiable by plastic earpieces, standing nearby.
By the beach, among tourists carrying rubber rings,
we saw armed paramilitary police.
Communist Party villas near public beaches
No one will confirm it, but they are here to protect
China's Communist Party leadership, thought to be
holding its annual secretive summit at the resort.
Mao Zedong started the tradition in the 1950s, with
the party elite decamping to the coast to escape the
stifling Beijing summer heat, to decide the country's
future in private.
For all the appearance of modernisation in China, in
2017, this is still how power is exercised in the
"People's Republic" - behind high walls and carefully
guarded gates.
There is no mention of the meeting in state media.
The only indication it has started is the sudden
absence of senior officials from evening news
bulletins, and the simultaneous appearance of heavy
security on the streets of Beidaihe.
On one side of a long fence is the crowded public
beach - on the other, the manicured, private sands of
the Communist Party villas.
Black cars sweep through at speed
At intervals, black cars sweep through at speed, as
ordinary traffic is halted to let them pass.
But then we were ordered to stop filming. When I
asked why, I was told: "Because we are police."
More plainclothes security agents followed us along
the street, before stopping and questioning us about
what we were doing there, and taking our names and
passport details.
Sky's Katie Stallard was stopped by officers
This is a crucial year for General Secretary Xi
Jinping, who appears to be consolidating his personal
control ahead of an important party congress this
autumn, which will determine the country's
leadership for the next five years.
He may also signal whether he plans to step down in
line with the recent convention of serving two terms,
which would end in 2022, or intends to stay in power.
At a military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of
the founding of the People's Liberation Army
recently, President Xi appeared, unusually, as the
only civilian on the podium, and reviewed the troops
in combat fatigues.
China's President Xi Jinping
"Xi was wearing his commander-in-chief hat both
literally and figuratively," Andrew Polk, co-founder of
Trivium China explained.
"This is a very clear signal that Xi is in charge of the
army, which is part and parcel of being a powerful
leader.
"The message is: I'm in charge of domestic politics,
I'm in charge of the military apparatus, the nation is
strong, and I am the leader of that strong nation."
Back in Beidaihe, we found more clues to who was in
town on a roundabout, where red characters spelled
out: "The Party is in my heart, welcome the 19th
Congress."
There were more warm words for the Party's
leadership on the beach.
One of the packed public beaches in Beidaihe
"I think it's quite normal that the government take
some measures and they have the right to do this
their own way. They do that for our country's safety
and people's happiness," one man assured us.
Soaking up the sun nearby, another man told us:
"China has thousands of years of history. It needs
time to develop, but I think China is getting better
and better."
If Xi Jinping could have heard him on his side of the
fence, he would have approved.

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