From the The Carter Center’s chinaelections.org:

South China Morning Post reported that Chinese lawmakers need to get more training and become more professional. One such lawmaker told the SCMP reporter,

NPC deputies need more training to improve their skills, NPC deputy Fan Jiheng from Shanxi province said. “A lot of the representatives don’t have any legal knowledge, and thus they are not capable of carrying out their duties,” he said. Mr Fan described some of his colleagues as “fake representatives”. He said the NPC should be the main body of law drafting, rather than government departments. “When the bills are passed down to the NPC, it’s difficult to make any major changes when we review them,” Mr Fan told the delegates.

Fan has certainly touched a very sensitive issue in that in China, laws are mostly made by the government agencies and NPC staff. Deputies and CPPCC political advisors, in addition to pass laws, could only flirt with the possibility the bills introduced by them (they are actually not bills but suggestions on improving governance or taking care of their “constituents”) could somehow be adopted by the government. But they are taking this brainstorming session deadly seriously. A following is a list of some of the ideas famously reported by the media (please keep in mind, many of their brilliant ideas are never reported).

Political advisors present over 4,500 proposals at annual session (one certainly wonder what has happened to the 4,500 proposals and how many have been acted upon? Zhao Zhonglin, a board chairman of a private enterprise in Zhejiang said that in the past ten years, he has submitted a total of 960 proposals to the CPPCC.)

Shark fin dishes should be off the menu during the Games (lawmakers also suggested that the Starbucks Coffee Shop should be moved out of the Forbidden City, which was reported by the NPR yesterday morning.

Political advisors vow to keep an eye on social security fund (yes, if you lose your vigilance, Chen Liangyu and his running dogs will steal the funds)

Zhang Xiaomei, A CPPCC member suggested changing March 8 Women’s Day [ ‰∏âÂִ¶á•≥ËäÇ ] into March 8 Female Day [ ‰∏âÂִ•≥‰∫∫ËäÇ] and Zhao Lirong moved to introduce a holiday for men and choose August 3 as the day [ ÂÖ´‰∏âÁî∑£´ËäÇ] ( ˵µ‰∏ΩÂÆèÊèêÊ°àÔºö„ÄäÂÖ≥‰∫éËÆæÁ´ã ” ÂÖ´‰∏â” Áî∑£´ËäÇÁöѪ∫ËÆÆ„Äã

) 。 For a critique of the frivolousness of these proposals, see the Chinese commentary and tabs below: 幽默提案 and 鲁宁：议案提案的黑色幽默



To appreciate the hard work done by the NPC deputies, see the story 郑明怀：代表如此调研，不着急也不行. According to this story, this deputy, Tang Zuxuan, traveled 16 days in a row, covered 2,400 kilometers and entered 259 villages. He was investigating the status of health care in the countryside. This means every day he had to travel 150 kilometers and visit 16 villages. His findings were that peasants have become richer and a new health care system is well in place.

To see a Chinese article on the qualification of the deputies, click here: Â왉∫õ” ‰∏§‰ºö” ‰ª£Ë°®ÊòØÂü∫Êú¨ÂêàʆºÁöÑÔºü Many pf the NPC deputies and CPPCC advisors are simply accidental tourists and when plenary sessions are held it is the perfect time for them to catch a wink.

The most eye-catching proposal was made by Yu Quanyu [ ÂñªÊùÉÂüü], a CPCC member and a Beida Professor, who proposed that NPC should adopt law entitled “Punishment against Speech Made by Han Collaborators [ „Ääʱâ•∏Ë®ÄËÆ∫ÊÉ©Ê≤ªÊ≥ï„Äã ]. In other words, Professor Yu does not want to see or hear any anti-government or unpatriotic comments. If one does, one must be punished. Should we recommend him to work at Alberto Gonzalez’s office? For a sampling of comments on this all important proposal, check the following links:

Á´ãÊ≥ïÁ¶ÅÁªù” ʱâ•∏Ë®ÄËÆ∫” ‰º§ÂÆ≥Â≠¶ÊúØËá™Áî±

ÂñªÊùÉÂüüÁöÑ” ʱâ•∏Ë®ÄËÆ∫”

Zhai Shijing, a CPPCC advisor, said during an interview that if they did not do a comprehensive assessment of the role played by the CPPCC in the past two decades, it would be a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.