Behind placid Great Hall, real debate at China's annual congress

An arena for limited political action thrives behind closed doors, and at lower levels of government.

from the March 5, 2007 edition

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Several readings of property law

The orders sometimes take a long time to come. The property law is expected to be passed at this session of the NPC, but it has already been subjected to seven readings in an unusually complicated passage through the congress's Standing Committee.

The controversy that the bill has generated reflects misgivings not only among NPC members, but among members of the Communist Party and the government, say analysts. Indeed, NPC proceedings are often a window onto the inner and secretive workings of the party.

"The NPC is one of the places we would first expect to see real divisions in the party leadership when they emerge," says Scot Tanner, a China analyst at the RAND Corp.

Government leaders try to keep internal disagreements quiet. "This is not like Western parliaments where serious fights happen on stage," says Cai Dingjian, a former congressional staffer who now runs an independent center to study NPC affairs. "By the time the NPC meets, positions have already been reconciled, and the decisions have already been made.

"Behind the scenes, there will have been some very serious debates," he adds. "But China is still a one-party state. The ruling party does not want to see 40 percent of deputies vote against it. Even 10 percent would mean a loss of face."

In private, though, NPC staffers, who draft the legislation that will go to a vote, play an influential role in shaping its content. The NPC Standing Committee can make government officials testify before it, and Politburo members often consult NPC experts.

This search for consensus "ensures that a lot of interests get a say in [legislation's] content that would have been cut out before," says Dr. Tanner.

And while votes in the NPC generally pass by steamroller majorities, deputies can use their annual sessions as an opportunity to raise issues that are worrying them.

Whether it be skyrocketing house prices, poor healthcare or prohibitive school fees, deputies can try to create a buzz at an NPC session by submitting a briefing paper on their pet issue and hoping it will be among the 300 such papers chosen for publication and circulation at the meeting.

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