The Chinese government is into blogs, big time!
As the ‘Two Meetings’ proceed, the events of what the Western media usually calls “China’s rubber stamp parliament” will be reported nearly live by various representatives attending the meetings.
Chinese government Two Meetings blog central is hosted by the People’s Daily ‘Strong Country’ blog platform, a new addition to the ‘Strong Country’ BBS.
Among the bloggers are both People’s Representatives and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference or CPPCC.
CPPCC member Zhang Xiaomei is pictured here. This is who she is, translated from the bio on her blog:
Zhang Xiaomei, female, Beijinger, MBA from Sichuan University, CPPCC member, member of National Association of Industry and Commerce, senior economist, postgraduate studies at a Californian university.
She is the president and editor-in-chief of China Cosmetics & Fashion newspaper, the vice-president of cosmetics and beauty products of the National Association of Industry and Commerce, the president of the China Perfume and Cosmetics Association…
All of these official blogs have comments sections. Some of them are already full of long drawn out comments by people petioning for a personal cause. There are also comments asking questions about official policy. While it is highly unlikely that anything too controversial will be allowed to remain on the blog comments, there are a few comments that certainly would never appear in a Chinese newspaper.
In People’s Congress representative Ye Qing’s blog, someone has posted the following (rough translation):
Representative Ye, you are a National People’s Representative, did you know that ten years ago, the Chinese government signed the UN’s International Convention on Civil and Political Rights?
Without democracy we cannot unite, this is the common understanding of the Democratic Progressive Party’s unification policy. How do you see democratic peaceful unification? When do you think the People’s Congress will consider the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and even better, protect and safeguard human rights to promote peaceful unification?
Another section of the labyrinthine ‘Two Meetings’ blog compendium contains a heartfelt cry:
I hope Premier Wen can hear this: Rural cadres should not abuse their power!
There are plenty more comments with an edge, in between the remarks from sycophants and lists of complaints from petioners.