Chinese dissidents have received orders to stay silent or leave their homes as the country holds its annual “two sessions” of the state legislature and top political advisory body, media reports say.

Bao Tong, a writer and activist who served under liberal Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, was told to avoid granting media interviews or posting messages online during the one-week meetings that would start on Thursday, a source told Radio Free Asia.

The order came several days ago from government officials, and Bao had replied “understood,” the source said.

Writer Zhang Yihe was also being watched by police, Tsinghua University sociology professor Guo Yuhua wrote on Twitter. Zhang’s memoirs of people living in the era of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution are banned in mainland China.

It was the first time police arrived at Zhang’s doorstep, Guo wrote, citing the writer’s post on Chinese social media site Weixin.

Journalist Gao Yu, who had been incarcerated for allegedly leaking state secrets, told RFA that she had also received similar instructions. On top of being barred from giving interviews, Gao is also under close scrutiny.

“I was told that I would be watched from the garden from Tuesday,” she said.

RFA also reported that more than 10 members of a human rights group in Guiyang, located more than 2,000 kilometers from Beijing, were taken away and asked to “travel in the countryside.”

“On Saturday, national security officers told me that they would come [to my place] and have a look,” group member Li Renke was cited as saying.

“They came [on Monday] and told me that they might take me somewhere Tuesday afternoon, and asked me to prepare for it. They said no mobile phones would be allowed.”

Li said about 10 more members might be taken away for the “holiday,” which would last eight to 10 days, according to the report.

A Beijing resident surnamed Liu told RFA that authorities on motorways leading to the state capital were turning away people who were not residents of the city. People’s identities were also being checked on the streets, she said.

Thousands of delegates to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference are descending on Beijing for the yearly affair.

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