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WORLD NEWSMonday 7 March 2016
Lacking powers, China’s legislature a venue for the wealthy
CHRIS BODEEN bureaucracy. The dele- Hostesses, who facilitated the arrival of delegates by bus, leap as they pose for photographers
Associated Press gates are selected through in front of the Great Hall of the People during the opening session of China’s annual National
BEIJING (AP) — Chi- an indirect voting system People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Saturday, March 5, 2016.
na’s take on parliamentary that ensures those ap-
democracy kicked off its proved by the party lead- (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
annual session Saturday ership get elected.
to address national pri- Here is a look at the Na-
orities at a time of slowing tional People’s Congress,
economic growth. Unlike which runs through March
legislatures elsewhere, Chi- 16:
na’s does little in the way
of legislating, is carefully SOME TALK, LITTLE AC-
stage-managed and al- TION — China firmly rejects
lows no foreign leader to Western political notions of
address it. separation of powers, so
But like such chambers challenging the leadership
of power elsewhere, Chi- or questioning its decisions
na’s has become some- are not part of the some-
thing of a billionaire’s club, what nebulous mandate
where the super-rich sit for the NPC’s nearly 3,000
shoulder-to-shoulder with delegates. Nor does it draft
colorfully adorned Tibetan, or seriously challenge the
Mongolian and other mi- government’s budget pro-
nority delegates and mem- posals, instead discussing
bers of the country’s vast the various speeches and
reports in small groups be- the economy and public same honor. Partly, that’s
fore voting to approve services, the report is pulled because of limited avail-
whatever measures put together by a committee ability, with the full con-
before it at the close of the based on submissions from gress meeting just once
roughly two-week session. major government depart- a year, but also because
The exercise is not entirely ments. Considerable lob- of its rigid structure that
without merit, however, bying precedes the pre- brooks no outside interfer-
since members gain a bet- mier’s 90-minute speech, ence. Foreign guests may
ter understanding of the since a mention of one’s observe from the gallery,
government’s priorities and pet project can be touted but only the premier and
can also channel up to the as a high-level endorse- other top Chinese leaders
leadership some of their ment. The time around the are allowed to address the
grassroots concerns. meeting is usually a dismal assembly. The most a visit-
The vast majority of the period for China’s embat- ing leader can hope for is
NPC’s legislative work is tled dissident community, a speech at one of Chi-
handled by its 171-mem- which may be confined na’s top universities.
ber Standing Committee, to their homes or taken
which meets every two on out-of-town trips in the BILLIONAIRE’S CLUB — The
months to discuss and pass constant presence of state NPC includes many of Chi-
laws and is more firmly un- security agents. Security is na’s wealthiest citizens, with
der control of the ruling ratcheted up nationwide, more than 100 billionaires
Communist Party. but especially in Beijing, by some estimates. The real
where out-of-town peti- number isn’t known since
POMP AND REPRESSION — tioners are cleared out and delegates are under no
The NPC strictly proceeds paramilitary guards are obligation to declare their
along well established lines, posted throughout city. assets, and wealth in Chi-
beginning on its first day na is often hidden. How-
with the premier’s work re- NO ROOM FOR OUTSIDERS ever, observers who run
port, a kind of State-of-the- — Although Chinese Presi- the numbers say the top 10
Nation address that reviews dent Xi Jinping has grown richest delegates are worth
achievements of the previ- fond of addressing his host around $184 billion, about
ous year and sets out the country’s elected assem- 100 times the wealth of the
new year’s goals and pri- blies during overseas trips, 10 richest American mem-
orities. Focused heavily on the NPC doesn’t afford the bers of Congress.
