A series of deputies to the annual gathering of China's parliament, beginning this week, have called on the government to sharply cut back its intervention in economic affairs, state media said yesterday.
The demands, ahead of the National People's Congress (NPC) session starting tomorrow, illustrates how far China's nominally-communist economic policy has reversed under two decades of market-based reforms. But whatever the changes since economic opening-up began, three deputies quoted Sunday by the Xinhua news agency insisted reform was not fast enough.
Fang Xiaoyu said bluntly the government must "improve its performance," especially in economic matters, and that this was the biggest challenge facing China following its entry last year to the WTO.
Authorities should stop intervening in business decisions made by state-owned firms or trying to develop certain industries, as these initiatives "could be best decided by businesses", Xinhua quoted Fang as saying.
Another deputy, Sun Qianfu, the manager of an alcoholic drink factory in central China, said his firm was having a "hard time" due to orders by local authorities to acquire other businesses and to diversify.
The government should keep out of economic affairs and instead concentrate on matters such as public services and the environment, they and a third representative said.
While such utterances could appear heretical in a country where the sole ruling party still styles itself as communist, the fact such demands are being covered by state-run media indicate the degree of official support they enjoy.
President Jiang Zemin's widely-touted personal contribution to communist theory -- the "Three Represents" theory -- decrees that the Communist Party is also the home of so-called "elite forces," including capitalists.
He has additionally proposed the deeply controversial plan of allowing private businesspeople to join the previously restricted party ranks. Almost 3,000 delegates are set to begin 10 days of discussions in Beijing today.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source