Tag: National People’s Congress

(CNN)Beijing residents who are putting up with extra security checks and traffic restrictions this week for the annual meeting of the country's lawmakers are doing so without the usual compensation of glorious blue skies. The Chinese capital was choking on smog Tuesday morning, even as the city's environment bureau said an orange air pollution warning issued over the weekend was due to be lifted as the situation improved. An orange alert, the second-highest on the city's four-tier system, advises elderly people and children to remain indoors. During an orange alert, outdoor construction work is halted, and limited traffic restrictions are introduced in order to cut down on the amount of pollutants being added to the poisonous air. Beijing is currently hosting the annual meeting of lawmakers known as the "Two Sessions." Sunday was the first day of the annual Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a body that nominally advises on laws and policy and whose members include numerous retired officials and celebrities. That puts it in the US Environmental Protection Agency's "very unhealthy" category. In the past, major political events in Beijing have been greeted with blue skies, as the Chinese authorities shut down factories in neighboring provinces and limit traffic to ensure clean air. A study in 2016 said the practice came at a severe cost, however, as production is ramped up to compensate for economic losses incurred during the shut down. This week's pollution will be particularly embarrassing for Beijing's government, as it has actually seen a marked progress in recent years in terms of tackling smog, with numerous measures taken to cut down on pollutants.

A rare show of dissent has emerged in China over Xi Jinping's bid to stay in power beyond his two term presidential limit. The Chinese president is seeking to extend his rule beyond 2023 with a change to the constitution that will be decided by China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), when it meets next month. Beijing's huge army of Internet censors have been mobilised to stamp out any ridicule or criticism to the move, while state media and the armed forces have come out to back it. But Li Datong, a former editor at the state-run China Youth Daily, published online an open letter to the NPC's Beijing legislators telling them such a move would involve "planting the seed once again of chaos in China, causing untold damage". The constitution concerns everyone, not just a single person. "We must not allow China to move backwards. Extending the presidential limit goes against civilised politics and will bring us back to the era of Mao Tse-tung." Rules stipulating that the Chinese president can only serve for two terms are included in the 1982 constitution, which was drawn up to help prevent the trauma and chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution being repeated. Another Wechat statement was reported to have been posted by businesswoman Wang Ying. The Telegraph was told that Ms Wang has since been contacted by authorities over her statement and is unavailable for comment.