ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL: PROVINCIAL NPC DELEGATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 BEIJING 000649 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2029 TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EFIN SOCI ELAB PREL KIRF CH SUBJECT: ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL: PROVINCIAL NPC DELEGATIONS PUSH PAROCHIAL AGENDAS AND PROJECTS WHILE IN BEIJING REF: A. BEIJING 633 ¶B. BEIJING 614 ¶C. BEIJING 607 ¶D. BEIJING 589 ¶E. BEIJING 580 ¶F. BEIJING 559 ¶G. BEIJING 531 Classified By: Political Internal Unit Chief Dan Kritenbrink. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Demonstrating the universality of the axiom, "all politics is local," National People's Congress deputies this past week used "provincial discussion sessions," many of which were open to the media and EmbOffs, to push parochial agendas and projects, denounce separatism, support government policies, defend Communist Party rule and praise their own governance. During the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) meeting, local leaders stayed tightly on message: the TAR economy is still booming despite the March 2008 riots, new unrest is unlikely even with continued threat from the "Dalai clique" and Tibet is supposedly "open" to foreign journalists. Xinjiang officials likewise delivered a hard-line message on separatism but also pitched new airport and energy projects. The Xinjiang session provided the only mildly critical comments EmbOffs heard at this year's NPC, with one delegate castigating the central government for not following through on promises to help remote regions. Guangdong Party Secretary and Politburo Member Wang Yang starred at his province's session by fielding questions from reporters in a relaxed manner and dismissing reports of "infighting" between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, asserting that more competition was good for economic integration of the Pearl River Delta. Beijing delegates urged the central government to give more assistance to both the service industry and China's top universities, most of which are located in the capital. Ningxia deputies stuck closely to the official script, praising the Premier's work report and defending one-Party rule. An Inner Mongolia delegate described unemployment pressures and urged recent college grads to lower their sights and adjust their salary expectations. Henan delegates warned of the need to improve the court system and treat petitioners fairly to avoid social unrest. An MFA official praised the growing "openness" of the NPC to PolOff, but a long-time journalist contact, by contrast, said NPC meetings were becoming "less interesting" even as they grow more "open" to reporters. End Summary. TIBET REPS: ECONOMY GOOD, "DALAI CLIQUE" BAD -------------- ¶2. (SBU) As in 2008, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) NPC delegates' discussion of Premier Wen Jiabao's work report was open to the press and accredited EmbOffs. This year, roughly double the number of journalists attended the TAR session, which was held on March 6. In contrast to last year's unorganized and rambling session, which took place a week prior to the outbreak of major riots in Lhasa March 14, this year's TAR meeting was more media friendly, with fewer speakers, shorter speeches and a clear message. TAR leaders pushed the key themes that the TAR's economy had recovered from the March 2008 unrest and that Tibet was stable despite the continued "danger" posed by the "Dalai clique." Delegates also plugged the new March 28 "Serf Emancipation Day" holiday. WE WELCOME YOU TO VISIT TIBET (BUT NOT REALLY) -------------- - ¶3. (SBU) TAR Party Secretary Zhang Qingli did not attend this year's session, despite having led last year's meeting. Legqog, the Chairman of the TAR People's Congress, who chaired the session in place of Zhang, kept the scripted presentations to one hour and devoted the rest of the time to questions from domestic and international journalists. In response to a reporter's question about Zhang's absence, TAR Government Chairman Qiangba Puncog said Zhang was busy attending "other meetings." (Comment: Zhang was likely in Lhasa preparing for the March 10 anniversary. The Xinhua News Agency BEIJING 00000649 002 OF 005 reported that Zhang met with ordinary residents and a People's Armed Police unit in Lhasa March 7, though he was in Beijing March 9 for NPC-related events.) Highlights of the session: -- TAR Chairman Qiangba Puncog claimed that despite the March 2008 riots, the TAR economy still enjoyed a 10.1 percent growth rate in 2008. -- Qiangba Puncog made the case that Tibet was unlikely to experience a repeat of the March 2008 unrest. There may be "minor incidents" of "three to five individuals shouting slogans," he said, but otherwise the TAR is "stable." -- Serf Emancipation Day Explained: TAR People's Congress Chairman Legqog gave the first, clearly planted, question to a People's Daily journalist who asked TAR officials to explain the "meaning and significance" of the March 28 Serf Emancipation Day holiday. Legqog read at length from a prepared response, saying the holiday was "necessary" to remind Tibetan youth about Tibet's feudal past. -- "Welcome Journalists": Legqog opened the question and answer session by thanking "objective" journalists for their support of the TAR's development. A BBC reporter later asked, "If Tibet is so stable, why don't you let us go there?" In response, Qiangba Puncog denied any ban was in place on foreign correspondents, though he did offer that there were "regulations" (zhidu) that had to be followed. At the end of the press conference, Legqog said journalists were welcome to visit Tibet to "see for themselves." WESTERN, HOSTILE, SEPARATIST...AND DOOMED TO FAIL -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Governor Nur Bekri warned of the "separatist threat" facing the region during a March 6 provincial delegation session to discuss Premier Wen Jiabao's Government Work Report. Bekri predicted that the "struggle against separatism" in Xinjiang would be "more intense" in 2009. Nevertheless, he declared that anyone who tried to "destroy China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" or the "unity of its peoples" was doomed to "utter failure." Bekri warned that "Western hostile forces have not relaxed or stopped their efforts to carry out destructive separatist activities" and that the "three forces (terrorism, separatism, religious extremism) will definitely not let up." KASHGAR: "GATEWAY TO CHINA" (SO UPGRADE OUR AIRPORT) -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Despite the Governor's hard-line stance on "separatism," most of the Xinjiang delegation's "discussion session" was devoted to delegates' comments on local economic development, including an appeal for more government spending and the need to increase trade with the six Central Asian countries that border Xinjiang. Two delegates used their time to push pet parochial projects. Aikebanger Wepuer (pinyin),Deputy Party Secretary of Kashgar (Kashi), called for China's General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) to approve direct flights between Europe and Kashgar. Kashgar, he pointed out, was "only a five hour flight from Frankfurt" and could serve as a "gateway" to Xinjiang and the rest of China. Su Shengxin, Party Secretary of Xinjiang Power Company, called for the development of a major coal field near Hami and the development of a Northwest power grid. Shi Shaolin was the only delegate who said anything negative about central government policies, and in a rare display of independent thought (or at least speech),described the Great Western Development Program (xibu kaifa) project's promise to help remote regions develop as "empty words." At this point, Nur Bekri corrected him and told Shi to "seek truth from facts." SELF-IMMOLATION INCIDENT DOMINATES XINJIANG Q&A -------------- -- ¶6. (U) Much of the Xinjiang meeting's question and answer session with journalists was taken up by discussion of a February 25 incident in which three Xinjiang residents set themselves on fire in Beijing's busy Wangfujing shopping district. Nur BEIJING 00000649 003 OF 005 Bekri gave a lengthy defense of the treatment of the three, describing the act as "extreme" and related to the individuals' "irrational" petition demands. The Xinjiang family, according to Bekri, had protested the destruction of their home and other buildings to make way for the construction of a school in the late 1990s. The Urumqi City Government had handled the family's petition and offered "reasonable and fair" compensation in 2002, but the family wasn't satisfied. They demanded "significant compensation," that the government print an apology in the newspaper and that jobs be provided for their son and daughter. When these demands went unmet after several years, Bekri claimed, the family drove to Beijing, where they staged the February 25 incident. The three were flown "first class" back to Xinjiang on March 1 and were allegedly "recovering" from their burns. SMOOTH AND CONFIDENT WANG YANG STARS AT GUANGDONG SESSION -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Guangdong Party Secretary and Politburo member Wang Yang was in full command of the March 6 Guangdong delegation session, which had a more relaxed atmosphere compared to other provincial meetings. Wang displayed a collegial relationship with other officials and delegates and confidently handled questions from reporters. Wang clearly played to the many Hong Kong journalists present. Though Wang fielded some questions himself, he also deferred to specialists among the Guangdong delegation. The effort to promote greater integration among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, quickly became the focus of much of the discussion. A Ming Pao reporter asked Wang Yang how he would avoid "infighting (wolidou)" between the three territories as they seek closer economic ties. Wang launched into a lengthy discourse on the importance of "relying on the market economy" through "fierce competition" to resolve conflicts and promote growth, noting that in the past, under a planned economy, conflicts would have been settled through administrative fiat. Wang strongly touted the benefits of Pearl River Delta integration and said that integration would involve both "cooperation and competition" and would be successful. ¶8. (U) Liu Youjun, director of the Guangdong provincial Labor and Social Security Department, answered a Nanfang Ribao (Southern Daily) reporter's question on migrant worker employment after the Spring Festival. Liu played down the migrant labor problem, claiming that 80 percent of migrant workers had returned to their original jobs in Guangdong and that graduating college students were also finding jobs. BEIJING: MORE PORK-BARREL SPENDING, PLEASE -------------- ¶9. (U) Beijing delegates on March 6 engaged in ritual praise of Premier Wen's Government Work Report but also used the event to tout local projects and push their own agenda items. National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Minister Zhang Mao, who represents Beijing in the NPC, offered a list of infrastructure projects in the pipeline for China's capital: more subway lines, more parks in Beijing's satellite cities, improved sewage treatment and more natural gas hookups for residential buildings. Zhang urged the central government to do more to support the service industry in Beijing, including hosting a major annual service industry event in the capital modeled after the Guangzhou trade fair. ¶10. (U) Ji Baocheng, the President of Renmin University, commented that China's best universities are located in Beijing, so the central government should boost support for higher education by, for example, increasing faculty salaries and pensions, which, Ji complained, compare poorly with civil servants. Ji also urged central authorities to give universities more funding. He ended his presentation with a pitch for more support for the humanities, especially the study of religion. Education and the difficulty college graduates are having finding employment was a major topic of the subsequent question and answer session with BEIJING 00000649 004 OF 005 journalists. (Comment: Discussion of the education challenges facing the children of migrant workers, however, was noticeably absent from the Beijing discussion session.) INNER MONGOLIA AND NINGXIA: TOWING THE PARTY LINE -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Unlike the sessions of Tibet and Beijing, no foreign journalists, or apparently even Hong Kong press, attended the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia work report discussions, held March 6 and 9, respectively, with EmbOff noting that deputies from these two provinces stuck closely to the official "script" and did not stray far from ritual praise of the Premier's Government Work Report. At the March 9 Ningxia delegation meeting, members focused on the need to increase active participation in the law making process, as well as the NPC's monitoring of implementation and standard setting for "livelihood" (minsheng) issues like food and product safety. Delegate Ma Ruiwen, Vice Chairman of the Ningxia People's Congress, said the Ningxia People's Congress would also apply this principle and play a more active role on a local level. Taking his cue from NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo, who earlier that day had issued a vigorous defense of China's People's Congress system (ref A),Ningxia Party Secretary Chen Jianguo gave an enthusiastic defense of the PRC political system, which he said was "the only correct path" for the country. Another delegate said that a multiparty system may be appropriate in some countries, but not in China. As evidence of the suitability of one-Party rule, the delegate commented that the China was able to react very quickly to the global financial crisis while the response in the United States was "slower." STIMULUS, INFRASTRUCTURE AND EMPLOYMENT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) The Inner Mongolia and Ningxia delegation meetings also focused on the PRC stimulus package as well as on how their respective provinces could maintain growth. Although a number of delegates in both sessions discussed shifting growth to rely more on consumption, encouraging innovation and technology, and improving living standards and environmental conditions, they made few specific suggestions. A delegate from the Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission said that infrastructure investment and central government funding remain crucial for maintaining growth, although some investment spending would be reoriented to improving livelihoods and away from traditional basic infrastructure. In response to a question from a Chinese reporter, Inner Mongolia delegation members admitted the difficulties in helping recent college graduates find jobs, though one also added that students may need to lower their expectations and accept lower-paying jobs. Another delegate admitted that there is a "contradiction" between policies to place graduates in local government jobs and ongoing efforts to streamline local government payrolls. EXTEND THE GREAT WESTERN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT -------------- ¶13. (SBU) An Inner Mongolia delegate proposed that the delegation make a formal proposal to the central government to renew the Great Western Development Program (xibu kaifa),set to expire in 2010, for another ten years. The delegate said the policy had a "profound" impact on Inner Mongolia, but the results were only "initial" (chubu). EconOff lingered in the meeting room after the open session of the meeting ended and overheard the beginning of what appeared to be an enthusiastic discussion of this proposal before being asked to leave. NPC Ningxia delegate Wang Heshan, who leads Ningxia's Finance Bureau, told EconOff the Great Western Development Program will certainly be renewed, although it may be modified and may not be done at this year's NPC. Wang said developing western China is a long-term effort and the needed infrastructure investments require years to plan and implement. HENAN: FIXING COURT SYSTEM KEY TO STABILITY -------------- ¶14. (SBU) The formal comments in the Henan BEIJING 00000649 005 OF 005 delegation's meeting on March 11 to discuss the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate work reports focused on improving the "quality" (suzhi) of the courts and law enforcement personnel, increasing funding for the courts and the need for ongoing improvements to China's legal system. One delegate who serves as a corporate executive said that broader public participation in the courts, including in finding solutions to the lack of financial resources, was important to fixing the system. A number of delegates raised the issue of petitioners and the need to have a mechanism to handle the petitions effectively and efficiently and to provide an "outcome" to petitioners. One delegate mentioned that many petitioners make repeated appeals because they do not see a result or get a response. Delegates from rural communities and "worker" backgrounds delivered impassioned speeches in the formal discussion about fair treatment in the court and law enforcement system for everyday people and talked about how real injustices in society and the legal system were behind the many petitions and social instability. One rural delegate said that fixing the legal system so it was "fair and just" was the only way to address the instability issue, which was a major "threat" (weixie) to the nation. This drew applause from some of the press in attendance (the only applause during the session). JUST HOW "OPEN" IS THE NPC? -------------- ¶15. (C) MFA Information Department Official Tong Xinping told PolOff March 6 that the NPC was growing "increasingly transparent and open" to the press. The number of provincial delegation meetings open to reporters, Tong claimed, was higher than in previous years. (Note: By PolOffs' count, the number of "open" sessions this year was approximately the same as in 2008, though more delegations appeared to take questions from the press than last year.) Nevertheless, Wang Chong (protect),a former international affairs correspondent for the China Youth Daily (zhongguo qingnian bao, a Communist Youth League newspaper),told PolOff March 11 that the provincial open sessions were increasingly less interesting, even as they become more accessible to the press. In 2004 and 2005, when the NPC was experimenting with a more open press policy, delegates with little media experience were more likely to "spout off" (luan shuo hua) and speak their minds. Now, Wang said, the NPC is giving more training to delegates on what they should and should not say to reporters. Hence, while on the surface the NPC is becoming more transparent, Wang argued, the quality of the meetings is actually declining. PICCUTA