Pomp... and ceremony
China's parliament meets only once a year - for just a few days. It's such a brief event that members of parliament line up to take souvenir photos of themselves outside the steps of the parliament building - the Great Hall of the People next to Tiananmen Square.
Photo time for China's MPs came early this morning - the first day of the 2009 parliamentary session.
Several thousand delegates were driven in coaches to Tiananmen Square. They walked up the steps of the Great Hall, took their photos, walked onto red carpets, and then into the main chamber (I was in the press section on the second tier).
Just before 9am, a military band, half-hidden in the audience, played a few bars. China's President Hu Jintao led the Politburo out onto the main stage.
The Politburo members clapped solemnly in time to the military music - it was the biggest show of emotion of the day.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao then approached the podium to deliver his annual report. Stirring oratory has played its part in Chinese history. But it appears to have no role whatsoever in communist politics.
In the Chinese Communist Party, the ideal speech is jammed with tinder-dry statistics and delivered in a solid monotone, in the manner of an earnest student delivering the results of a science project.
For more than two hours, Mr Wen read from the text of his speech. Members of parliament each had copies of the speech in front of them. When Mr Wen turned the page, there was a huge whooshing sound in the hall, as everyone in the audience did the same.
Following every single word of a two-hour speech was too much for some delegates. We saw many with their heads nodding forward and their eyes shut. In their defence, perhaps they had their eyes closed in order to focus all that much more on the speech.
This annual session of parliament goes on for eight and a half days. Don't expect any great arguments or debates. That's not how the National People's Congress works.
By and large, the delegates to China's parliament have come to Beijing to approve decisions already taken by the government.
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"In the Chinese Communist Party, the ideal speech is jammed with tinder-dry statistics and delivered in a solid monotone, in the manner of an earnest student delivering the results of a science project."
I watched with great amusement your Prime Minister's speech to Congress yesterday. Though it was not "packed with tinder-dry statistics", nor delivered "monotonously", it was, however, painfully sycophantic.
The Chinese Communist Party has made errors, of course, but above all else, I do believe that it's striving to achieve better things for the Chinese people. When the time comes for a new paradigm in governance, we will look back and see that the CCP did what was best for China. One of which was to ensure that never again would China would be servile to another nation, unlike what has happened to the UK in relation to the US.
[Moderators, I don't think this has broken any house rules so I hope that it can be published, thanks.]
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haha,maybe you are right James.Most big decisions have already been made before the annual meeting of the NPC by the gov't,but when it tried to reach decisions especially the big ones,many people were invited into the gov't to discuss about them.Those who were invited into the discussion are normally the elites in what they do.They know how things are getting along,and what the best choices are.
In recent years,a nationwide discussion has been raised that the NPC should increasing the number and proportion of non-governmental officials and women delegates.As a result,some civilian opinions have been taken into policies.Last year the NPC prescribed the proportion of women in the NPC shoudn't be lower than 22%.I didn't get the proportion of women in the NPC meeting of this year.But I suppose it'd be larger.
As a will-be fresh graduate,I'm excited to see both the NPC and the Gov't are trying to create more job vacancies and better conditions for us.The situation of job market is getting tougher than it used to be last year.I hope the gov't helps us.
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You are right to the extent that it is a not decision making meeting. And there is no serious debates and arguments. It is in fact more like an implementation process.
But if you take it as a show time or even photo time, you have just showed again that you know too little about China's politics.
Please read what Peston said in his "Super China". He is in China for only one week but I think he made more points
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At the end of blog,which puts"This annual session of parliament goes on for eight and a half days. Don't expect any great arguments or debates. That's not how the National People's Congress works.
By and large, the delegates to China's parliament have come to Beijing to approve decisions already taken by the government."
Maybe it reflect some flaws of CPC clearly, and the Chinese gov. always let publics do something they have planed interiorly as if how democratic they are.But, you know, I'm a Chinese, everyone criticising China or something else should be more objective.I don't agree that there is no effect on the improvement of China. The delegates are stand for Chinese people,although it lack of democratic.
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Nothing more than a rubber stamp really. Waste of time and resources.
Have these "MPs" ever vetoed anything proposed by the government anyway? If you start talking about "efficiency" of this lawmaking process, why don't they just scrap this meeting altogether and stop pretending like there's some kind of pseudo-democratic process involved somehow.
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The "pre-arranged" element to it is one aspect that provides the "yes" part to answer the question "is China still communist?"
I recall an article somewhere which mentioned a female delegate voting against something, and when a horrified delegate next to her asked why, she said "because I disagree!"
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#7 - interesting that you read what James said as a criticism, while I, for one, read it as a simple statement of fact.
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A bit like the UK Government under Blair and Brown then. No real decisions made by parliament, all decisions made by a small minority of the political elite! Who elected the PM (not me I didn't vote for Gordon), he was chosen by his party - sound familiar - who elecetd Wen Jiabao, he was chosen by his party. At least in China they don't pretend to have democracy as everyone knows there isn't any. The current Government has more in common with the Chinese Communist Party than they realise! About the only difference between the current UK politics and the current Chinese politiocs is the name they use!!!!
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"Pomp... and ceremony"
Governments all say they are there to better the human condition of their people but how they arrive at what they say their people want is always lacking the human aspect of their people. The minds of their people are filled with a soul that is not their own and forced to agree with what the government want to happen as that needed and in the peoples best interest.
By a over all consensus governments control by majority their mass media. This forms a society they want and the compliance of the people. The little human minds that constitute a governments efforts can not think for all the people and can not hold in them the wants and needs of every individual without a citizens honest and free input. Humanity is not being heard nor truthfully allowed a voice in the world they are made to live in.
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@2
"The Chinese Communist Party has made errors, of course, but above all else, I do believe that it's striving to achieve better things for the Chinese people."
-The only thing the CCP is striving for is a desperate cling to power.
"When the time comes for a new paradigm in governance, we will look back and see that the CCP did what was best for China."
-Well we can look back right now.
Did the CCP do what was best for China?
Millions dead through starvation due to ideologically driven failed attempts at collectivisation, bogus figures which kept the Party deceiving itself so the problem got worse.
The Cultural Revolution.
The suppression of Falun Gong, popular with millions of ordinary Chinese.
-And without true openness, democracy and human rights, who is to say when another Cultural Revolution, another famine due to mismanagement and lies will occur?
When will the people of China realise the CCP have failed them, and failed them badly?
The time for a 'new paradigm in governance' is NOW.
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James, you said:
By and large, the delegates to China's parliament have come to Beijing to approve decisions already taken by the government.
Are you accusing we CCP only do this People's Congress thing for show? We don't have real democracy in our beloved central kingdom?
Let me straighten up the the logic for you: we the CCP was chosen by 1.3 billion PEOPLE to lead the nation. This reflect the popular will and therefore we are the most democratic country in the whole world, not like you still have a Queen on your head.
Those delegates were elected by the People so they are entitled to have some fun in the emperor capital once a year.
Only once a year, that is not too much to ask by those elected delegates, don't you think?
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"Stirring oratory has played its part in Chinese history. But it appears to have no role whatsoever in communist politics."
True. They have the boring habit of giving power to people who are good at getting things done.
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"We saw many with their heads nodding forward and their eyes shut."
Well at least the Chinese delegates showed up for this parliamentary session, our Senators don't bother to show up at all, some never not even to vote.
And our Senators rubber stamp and say yes to anything so long as they can get out fast and go back home to the beaches in the Caribbs.
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phycophantic-- I had to look that one up in my handy unabridged Oxford dictionary. I had a cranky old accounting professor who once said that his Asian students' written English was better than the locals. I'm guilty as charged. But the phrase 'ten dollar word' comes to mind. Flattery is the word that fits in my meager vocabulary.
And nooo member of (American) Congress has EVER fallen asleep whilst in session.
Touche, Beijing 2000.
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On the front page of the South China Morning Post today there is a picture of Wen Jibao and Hu Jintau sharing a light moment. Perhaps they are laughing at the joke that is the stage managed annual parliamentary process.
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It's the Standing committee (with 159 members) of National Congress that do the real legislation work. The members of the Standing Committee are " elected "among delegates. MPs attending annual meeting is just like stockholders attending corporate annual meeting, they are there simply to ratify the actions of the executive/legislative/judiciary branches.
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I agree with James Reynolds that China's parliament is much more pomp/circumstance than functional.
I also agree with Beijing_2008's observation of PM Gordon Brown's speech before the American Congress -- sycophantic indeed!
But the second has nothing to do with the first. Does Mr. Beijing really think that tearing down UK will somehow build up China's farcical NPC?
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First I would like to say that I have always like your blog. Their are most very good and to the point(also you seem to in many case understand chinese better then some other "western news people"). Like this one,as the
China's parliament is most a show.
I personly think the chinese goverment system has much to do befor it really work as it should,BUT I also believe that the current system is best for China as the western democracy system won't work well in china. A midground of the current system and the wester system would most likely be best. The blind following of the "road" set by wester countery is really not very wise(as they are not as good as many would like to believe),and that is also something many people in the western do not/can not see.
Keep up the good work!
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Before last meeting they had, the Chinese state media was promoting further privatisation of farm land(To allow farmers to sell their land). It looked like that decisions were already made. However, the meeting did not pass that bill because many delegates thought that farmers are better off still have their land to return to if they lose their jobs in cities. Are you sure the decisions had already been made before the meeting? James, you are trying to cast a dictatorship in Chinese politics. You are trying to say that all the big decisions are made by few out of 1.3 billion people. If you think that is the case can you then tell me why those few people (or dictators if you like to put it that way) have been capable to make so many right decisions over the last 30 years(given the fact that China is doing well obviously)?
James, since your trip to Cuba, you have been using the word "communist" more carefully. You no longer use "Communist China" but whenever things related to Tibet or CCP you seems to go back to your old way. Tell me, James, is there anything there makes you really think the CCP members are communists. I think I eyewitnessed how CCP changed its self. They are now the most aggressive capitalists on the planet. Many problems in China are actually caused by the aggrassiveness of this new group of capitalists with Chinese characters. If they could slow down a bit then things would be fine(at the price of slower growth and more people remain in poverty). It is only a matter of time that the name of the party will be changed.
CCP is a political party that has been doing quite OK in recent years. That is my assessment. The former CCP took my grandparents' land and properties. They are now in the hands of those farmers. I do not think we could get it back without a blood shed. My family has moved on and we are happy with the nation's progress. Obviously it remains as many's enemy. May be they lost more than my family did?
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James,
Yes, US & British leaders are abasolutely much more eloquent and humorous than Chinese leaders, but good eloquence and humor helps little in a congress. Annual report itself is boring and jammed with details and statistics, which Mr Wen wanna tell his people. Personally, I'd like more eloquent and humorous Chinese leaders would appear in future.
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"About the only difference between the current UK politics and the current Chinese politiocs (sic) is the name they use!!!!"
I couldn't agree less. Chinese politics is riddled and crippled by corruption right down from those in Zhongnanhai to the smallest village, on a scale which makes British politicians looks like Saints.
Wu Yi broke the mould by revealing her salary a few years back, but this was the exception. My local government have to declare all their expenses publicly. Imagine if a city goverenment in, say Henan or Hebei, were to do the same? Expenses: son's Masters in UK, 200,000RMB.
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#21
Your ability to present opinions as fact is unparalleled.
Not a single one of your points stands up to close scrutiny and were life not so short, I would give a reply to each one.
Alas, all I will say is that is it perhaps a bit difficult for one to understand China's history without the ability to read or speak the language.
[Moderators, this a retort to #21 and I believe no house rules have been broken. I hope it can be published, thanks.]
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James, you should really get some facts correct before you blog. Perhaps you would not have been disappointed had you known China doesn't follow the Westminster system in which MPs meet in parliament argue and debate.
I think China does need criticism to the government and the CCP but not that made by someone who knows so little about what is really going on in the country.
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#37 davidwhite44
"Expenses: son's Masters in UK, 200,000RMB."
Zhu Rongji (former Chinese premier)'s monthly basic salary was said to be 2000RMB in 2000. A reasonable guess would be the rest of country's government officials earned less than that. Yet you still see so many Chinese government officials' children studying in UK universities, wearing expensive designer clothes and driving nice cars.
How can these people afford £20,000-a-year overseas tuition fee plus perhaps another £15,000 living costs? Mysterious indeed.
My guess is either they had a several-thousand percent salary hike over the past decade or the government actually gives them enough allowances to cover their children's study-abroad costs. Or perhaps somehow they managed to take out some kind of bank loans which they mysteriously can afford to pay back with their, say, 5000RMB (that's 250% payrise assumed) monthly salary ?
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What's the point of having Wen there anyway if he's there just to read from his script which everybody in the hall has a copy already? Two hours of everybody's life went to waste.
They should have like a Q&A session after this to make this at least a bit more worthwhile.
To recover the money and resources wasted on this meeting that could otherwise be used on doing something more productive e.g. Rebuilding Sichuan, they should perhaps open this to the public and start charging admission. I bet many locals and tourists would be interested.
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#40
"Yet you still see so many Chinese government officials' children studying in UK universities, wearing expensive designer clothes and driving nice cars."
How you seen any? How many is "many"? How do you know they wear "designer" clothes.?And given that it's not possible for them to obtain a UK driving licence, are you suggesting that they drive "nice" cars illegally?
I know many people on here aren't fans of the CCP (nor their spouses it seems), but at least be a bit more rational in your rants.
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#17
All very good...except we don't vote for our PM, the majority party does. We vote for the party, democratically. That might be America you're confusing us with. Though if you're British, well, you should really know that.
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@38
Please tell me what was not factual in my post.
@32
"Tell me, James, is there anything there makes you really think the CCP members are communists. I think I eyewitnessed how CCP changed its self. They are now the most aggressive capitalists on the planet"
-So is this an admission that Communism is a failed system? That Mao, and the other Party patriarchs may have gotten it wrong?
Pretty big mistake to make, for quite a long time, too.
What other mistakes might they have made?
And how do ordinary Chinese people stop them from making further errors in the future?
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James,
In part, you are correct on that the Congress is more a ceremony than a meeting. The decision has been made long before, and this is only a formality for cameramen.
However, I must admit that as a journalist, a blogger, you have missed a much larger picture, again!!
You are reporting a decision made by one of the largest economy on the planet, at this key moment of the world recession, on their plan to save themselves and help the world. Despite of the format of the "meeting", the conclusions drawn are not just kidding. These are serious decisions and extremely important measures, to China, and to the world as large!
Let me briefly explain it to you:
The decisions are not made by ONE dictator, Hu or Wen, but by the politburo as a whole.
The politburo is far from a piece of iron block as it may look like at the surface.
The differences amongst left, middle and right wings within the politburo is definitely (I mean it) bigger than the Nulabour, Torry and Liberal Dem of UK!
Behind each force of the politburo, there are at least a dozen massive thinktanks dedicated in all important arenas, with corresponding political and economical powers. Many of their views are dramatically different.
The decisions of the Congress are made by the combined force of aforementioned powers. The differences have been substantially discussed, debated, analysized, group-studied, even partially selected field-tested in some cases, and finally neutralized by all those thinktanks months ahead of the meeting, so that the meeting could be presented to the outside world in a "harmonious" way, rather than “shaken or stirred”.
Therefore, the "meeting" might not look like an exciting shoe-flying feast of South Korea, a name-calling competition of Nulabour vs. Torry, or a 40min hot-air debate session of your House of Lords, it remains de facto 1 of 2 the most important Congress meetings in the world right now judging by its consequences.
And you tell me 20 minutes is enough instead of 2-hour delivery?? Even Obama’s “Yes, We can” opening rhetoric will take at least 5 min.!
I appreciate your sacartics tone, James, but please stop being a frog in a well. If you are serious enough and professional enough, every single of my aforementioned point is enough for you to investigate and write a decent piece with much more depth, as your BBC colleague Robert Peston did.
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# 21. Bloofs
Well,sounds like you know much more about China than Chinese people.That's a not bad thing.but abviously you need to learn more.
Many westerners(even some Koreans and Japanese included)do think that Chinese people will always do whatever the gov. tells them to just because they've been what you called "brainwashed",which in my eyes(also in Chinese culture) is totally an offensive word,because the past history has proved and confirmed that Chinese people never betray their beliefs.The reason why a population of 1.4 bln give support to the CPC is that they have indeed bettered people's life,strengthed the nation and boosted people's confidence.We are saying this not ignoring the fact of the Cultural revolution and many other governance failures.
As to democracy,if we look back to the whole history of China,by west's standards,there has never been a thing called "democracy" ever in it!In every dynasty there were always a governmental class and a civilian class;the former made decisions and the later fulfil them---just what's happened again and again in Chinese history.So we have no tradition of democracy.I think whether or not this country is a democracy is not important,the thing that really matters is the best decisions are made in it.Didn't you see the right things followed up to happen after the 5.12 earthquake?Things went well in the right derection because the government made right and quick dicidions.And during the 3.14 Tibet incident ,innocent people were killed and shops ruined by insurgents.all these were witnessed by people and recorded by cameras,but when reported by Western medias,they changed!!!People began to criticise China for repressing the riots,which in your eyes oddly was call "peaceful protest".but ironically those critics have no idea where Tibet is,to say nothing of its history."Don't criticise Shakespears if you don't know English".
OK,back to the discussion,you said "the only thing the cpc is striving for a desperate cling to power".it's true.isn't this what the Obama Admin is up to now?but I do think it's better to day"the CPC is striving for a desperate cling to power by strengthening the nation."
it's not worth my words telling you about the Falungong and its spiritual leader.I'm not a communist,but i dont think there would be better party than the cpc in China.Those who still harbor bias about china,come and check by yourself!
The time for a 'new paradigm in governance' is NOW.
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It seems to me that Mr Reynolds and many of the posters here have some misconceptions about the National People's Congress and don't really know how the National People's Congress works. Please read,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_People%27s_Congress
During the plenary sessions, there are also group discussions. Has Mr Reynolds been to any of these?
Imagine 3000 delegates argue in the Great Hall every week like what happens in the west, what would happen? Why do people think that the western style of government is the only best? How come US congressmen and UK MPs still failed to prevent the credit crunch to occur when they had every opportunity to argue against their government and monitor the work of their government and not be "rubber stamp"?
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I couldn't agree less. Chinese politics is riddled and crippled by corruption right down from those in Zhongnanhai to the smallest village, on a scale which makes British politicians looks like Saints.
Aren't all politicians corrupt, after all 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'. As far as I can see any politician British, Chinese or otherwise is only after one thing, to see how much money he/she can make from his/her country.
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#43
It's interesting how irritated you are when I raise the question of how these Chinese government officials can afford to have their children studying abroad despite how little money they get from the government. I'm starting to think perhaps you can provide me with an answer?
Go to some Chinese online forums and you will see some UK Chinese students talking about designer clothes and handbags all the time. Many of them are government officials' children. It's not even fresh news that for some reason these rich government officials tend to spend their 'hard-earned' money abroad rather than in China.
Although I can't rule out some of these people may drive their nice cars without a license, I dont know why you think it's impossible for them to get a UK license.
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I have to agree with what you said here. Chinese parliament is not what those in the west. But Chinese parliament now is what we can have and we can only have this type of parliament.
For one thing, China is not as developed as the rest of the west, though westerners see Shanghai as China, but that is not the whole picture, go to west, you will find how poor these regions are and how long China will have to go. So your democracy cannot be applied here in China.
For another, not like U.K or U.S, China is a country with 5000 years, which does not mean just history but conflicts among the country herself. That is why western media try to fabricate news or badmouth China. And they can do this is because they can find plausible sources. Like Tibet CHINA.
So I hope western journalists can view China in a different way or from a different perspective, say in a positive way. China feeds 1.3billion people, and lifting them from starvation, which no country on the planet can do, even U.S., Don't you agree?
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Since this is the NPC meeting rather the Party congress. The Politburo referred in the article is actually the standing committee of the NPC.
As for the question. Have these "MPs" ever vetoed anything proposed by the government anyway?
There are actually a few veto, but they are rare and aren't on anything important. In the 2003 congress, 6 proposals failed to pass. and for this session, I'm not expecting the proposal to allow official usage of traditional Chinese characters on mainland China to pass.
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Perhaps I know too little about this world...
I know no one in Mainland China that have a vote to any parliament-like authority.
I know no more than some of the history about the world that countries have conflict among themselves.
I know no more than that 'a simple vote on the hands of every citizen is the basic of democracy'.
I really can't understand that kind of democracy mentioned by CCP.
I really can't understand why the democratic system in US, UK, France, etc, which can be summarized as 'one citizen one vote', just don't work in Mainland China. Is it because Chinese are all as foolish as me, so we don't deserve democracy?
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And yeah, the China is 'saving the world out of the Crisis'. By telling this, as a Chinese (but grew up in HK), I have the feeling that China is superior than those countries with democracy. So why should we follow those poor countries' way of democracy?
One day, similar to the Chin dynasty in the Chinese history, China will unite the world under one power!
Oh, it's perhaps my day-dreaming, sorry.
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Say what you like about Chinese politics, but those are some impressive curtains. I mean, just look at them. They're huge.
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@48
"I'm not a communist,but i dont think there would be better party than the cpc in China."
That's great huyanwan. Maybe most of your fellow Chinese would agree. Maybe not.
If another of your countrymen thinks the CPC are the worst of the worst - how does he have his say?
Fair elections would settle the issue and help the CPC legitimise their power.
But it's a risk - they may lose power. So they don't let the ordinary person have their say.
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