Beijing on alert as annual political session opens

writer: Christopher Bodeen

The actual legislature, a largely ceremonial body known as the National People's Congress, begins its nearly two-week session Friday. As is routine during the session, the highlight of the Chinese political calendar, dissidents and groups working on sensitive social issues were coming under increased pressure. AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, founder of the Beijing-based Aizhixing Institute, said police had ordered him to cancel a seminar planned for Wednesday to mark International Sex Worker Rights Day.

"The seminar is a perfectly normal activity; we're not opposing anything," Wan said in a telephone interview. "It's a meeting of the people's government, so they should let the people express themselves." The legislative advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, opens with a speech broadly outlining issues of national concern delivered by its chairman, the Communist Party's No. 4 ranking leader, Jia Qinglin.

This year's legislative session is expected to focus on economic policy, while many of the hot-button issues like soaring real estate prices in many Chinese cities are expected to get a full airing. The government, which releases a budget and work plan for the year, is expected to boost spending on education, pensions and medical care yet again, continuing a push begun over the past decade to repair a tattered social safety net. The congress is also expected to pass legislation on safeguarding state secrets and amend a law on how deputies are selected, correcting a disparity that gave urban Chinese greater representation over their more numerous rural neighbors.

References:
Bodeen, C. (2010). Beijing on alert as annual political session opens. Retrieved March 3, 2010. from Associated Press: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/03/beijing-alert-annual-political-session-opens.html

Disparity: disparitas/perbedaan
correcting a disparity that gave urban Chinese greater representation over their more numerous rural neighbors.