(TibetanReview.net, Mar04’24) – As questions swirl about the country’s struggling economy and governmental transparency in the face of disappeared high-profile ministers, Premier Li Qiang is not holding a news conference at the conclusion of the Chinese parliament’s annual meeting being held over Mar 4-11, as has been customary. To give the decision a semblance of policy shift, Lou Qinjian, the spokesperson for the National People’s Congress (NPC), has said Mar 3 that the premier’s press conference will not be held in the next few years.
Lou has said, nevertheless, that the congress would increase opportunities for journalists to ask questions of government ministers and other officials, as well as with the nearly 3,000 delegates to the congress.
“If there are no special circumstances, the premier’s press conference will not be held in the next few years,” the AP Mar 3 quoted Lou as saying, without further explanation. The Premier is the country’s leading economics official and would otherwise have many tough questions to answer.
The largely ceremonial gathering is taking on heightened importance this year as China’s economy has been roiled by a property sector crisis, hefty local government debt, deflation, a stock market rout and tech friction with the US — all fueling questions about whether the country will lose steam before it reaches its goal of becoming a developed global power, noted edition.cnn.com Mar 4.
Lou said Li would not give a press conference at any of the NPC sessions this year, which used to be one of the few opportunities for foreign press to engage with the high ranking official, reported theguardian.com Mar 4.
The NPC will “discuss” and approve the ruling Communist party of China’s policy direction for the year ahead. The meeting will be watched not for its debates but announcements and rubberstamping of decisions already made by the Party leadership after only a semblance of discussions.
They are highly orchestrated, and all public engagements stick closely to the party’s policy and political narrative, the report noted.
Indicating how difficult it had become for the Party leadership to take top government personnel decisions, Lou has also revealed that current vacancies in the state council – China’s cabinet – and central military commission will remain vacant for some time, with no personnel appointments to be announced during the Two Sessions.
This followed the months-long disappearances and loss of positions of former foreign minister Qin Gang and defence minister Li Shangfu. Both were known to be close to President Xi Jinping.
The Two Sessions refer to the annual meetings at this time of the year of the NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the supposed national political advisory body.
Observers will still be parsing how leaders discuss or comment on key issues like China’s position on the self-governing island of Taiwan, its relations with the US and bid to strengthen innovation as Washington bolsters tech export controls, said the cnn.com report.
Besides, “Beijing will likely use the two sessions to announce tactical measures aimed at boosting short-term confidence in China’s economy but without changing Xi’s underlying strategy of state-led development,” Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, has said.