A few blocks from the 1950s-era hall where China's figurehead parliament met yesterday, shoppers at the sleek modern shops in Wangfujing district felt so removed from its workings that they might have been in a different world.
"The National People's Congress (NPC) meets once a year, and we don't know what they do for the rest of the year," said a middle-aged man outside a green-domed department store identified by a neon sign as the Beijing Muslim Building. He would give only his surname, Zhang.
"I'm not criticizing the assembly, but I want them to be more open to change," he said.
The comments reflected the gulf between the NPC and China's fast-changing, increasingly capitalist society.
Officially the "highest organ of state power," the legislature is the powerless face of a closed, secretive communist system.
Chinese leaders depend on it as a way to try to keep in touch with society, but its members have little contact with ordinary Chinese.
"They do what they have to do. We work hard. We have our lives. They have theirs," said Cheng Lan, a 22-year-old student who was whiling away her morning window-shopping.
Despite such a political gap, state media have been filled with reports about issues to be debated during the legislative session -- and many ordinary Chinese had their own opinions.
"We live the good life here in Beijing, but the government must also take care of the countryside," said Wang Yuan, 43, as he left an upscale bakery with a bag of red bean pastries.
"If you don't improve the farmers' lives, the country as a whole will not move forward," he said.
Qin Zhiguang, who was dressed in a black leather jacket and shopping for glasses, said an "anti-secession" law was needed to keep Taiwan from slipping away for good.
"We need to tell Taiwan, `You can go this far but no further,'" said Qin, 35.
"They must know there is a line they can't cross," he said.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS