China's NPC meeting of little or no consequence
Chang Ping says when the party holds all the policymaking power, the NPC is but a poor joke
The annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are taking place this week. Chinese internet users wryly noted that many of the delegates attending had rushed back to Beijing from different parts of the world in order to take part. Some Chinese even took to the streets to protest against the interference of these "foreign forces" in local politics.
The detractors were, of course, pointing out the irony that many members of the privileged classes live abroad, some with their entire family.
From this perspective, the nation's top legislative meetings are truly a "world-class" affair.
Accordingly, China's media companies have mobilised for action. Their ace reporters, duly dispatched to cover the event, wait alongside members of the foreign media, all hyped up and ready to pounce, as if major news is about to break.
Not everyone is allowed in, of course. For local media, getting accreditation to cover the meetings is already an achievement. So they think hard about what to report. In the end, they do as successive journalists have done: they talk about the glamour of the celebrity delegates, the colourful costumes of ethnic minority deputies, the elegance of the women delegates and modesty of the women service staff, and, last but not least, the "beautiful scenery" provided by the fairer sex among their own ranks.
Of course, they also report on the ideas raised and legislative proposals tabled. China's legislative meetings may be the most voluble of such meetings anywhere, covering all kinds of topics from livelihood issues to space exploration, from traditional culture to future development, from early childhood education to retirement plans. In short, everything under the sun - except the one issue that really counts, policy and politics.
In the newspapers, readers get page after page of fluff, and comments that are downright daft. Take those by Guangdong CPPCC delegate and economics professor Luo Biliang, who at the recent provincial meeting likened "girls" to a "product". There are "girls who fail to sell themselves after more than 20 years on the shelf... [this shows that] getting a doctorate degree, far from adding value to their worth, devalues them".
