MAC: Countless human rights violations by the Chinese authorities make the holding of the NPC and CPPCC sessions a mere formality
The Fifth Session of China's 10th National People's Congress (NPC) and the Fifth Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are currently convened in Beijing. In a “Government Work Report,” Wen Jiabao, premier of China’s State Council, emphasized that the protection of the legal rights and interests of the masses should serve as the starting point and standing point in handling social contradictions and promoting social stability and harmony in the new era. However, before the NPC and CPPCC sessions, the Chinese authorities intensified their actions to expel petitioners and dissidents as well as curtailed the space for public dialogue and discussions in the media. These actions not only seriously violated basic human rights, but also concretely illustrated that the Chinese authorities have not changed their style of “saying one thing and doing another.”
The Chinese authorities convene the sessions of the NPC and CPPCC in March every year. However, under the authoritarian regime of China's one-party dictatorship, it is difficult for the NPC and CPPCC to fully exercise substantive supervisory functions like those of the representative bodies in normal democracies. Moreover, on the eve of the NPC and CPPCC sessions, the Chinese authorities strictly deployed various security measures and intensified overall social controls. This year, Beijing mobilized more than 500,000 public security personnel to comprehensively stop and search as well as expel petitioners from various places. At the same time, China prohibited dissidents and human rights activists from going outside during the NPC and CPPCC sessions, and in some cases it even forced them to leave Beijing. Moreover, before the NPC and CPPCC sessions, the Chinese authorities further tightened controls over public discussions in the media to create the illusion of a “harmonious” climate of public opinion. For example, China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) banned eight books, including Zhang Yihe's new book Past Histories of Peking Opera Stars; the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) announced rules requiring that all television stations in China should broadcast only “main theme” television dramas during peak viewing hours, starting in February 2007. The SARFT also instituted a four-tier inspection and approval system for television dramas. The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued over 20 news bans and orders, including orders to create a favorable atmosphere for the convention of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, a ban on over-dramatization of China’s advanced weapons and equipment in media reports on military subject matters to prevent catering to the western "China threat theory," the prohibition against the propagation of opinions that support the system of private ownership, a ban on the disclosure of the inside story related to China’s judicial system in the name of human rights advocacy, a ban on exposure of hidden goings-on in the name of conducting supervision through public opinion, and a ban on opinions that praise western political systems.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) indicated that the Chinese authorities’ related measures not only expose the totalitarian attitude of their one-party dictatorship, but, more seriously, also infringe on the basic human rights of the Chinese people. The international community should face up to this situation and urge China to make improvements in this regard. The Chinese authorities should also understand that whatever social control methods they will adopt, it will be impossible for them to obstruct the people's yearning to pursue democracy, freedom and human rights in the long-term, since such methods will only further increase popular discontents and sharpen social contradictions, thus contributing nothing to the building of a “harmonious society.” Taiwan has practiced democratic politics for many years. Through such measures as the lifting of martial law, the removal of bans on political parties and newspapers, complete reelection of the national legislature, and direct presidential elections, Taiwan has established milestones of pluralistic and democratic values. This is the most remarkable difference between the systems on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese government is willing to share its own experience with China through various channels, and to make joint efforts with the international community in helping the Chinese people to pursue democracy, freedom, and human rights.