Taiwan Keeps an Anxious Eye on China’s National People’s Congress

Think of it as the Chinese Communist Party’s convention. About 3,000 delegates from across the country gather each year at the cavernous Great Hall of the People in the heart of this capital to hear long policy speeches and rubber-stamp laws approved by the party elite.

The annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, the legislature, may appear to be little more than a political charade. But it is an important event on the Chinese political calendar, offering a rare glimpse at policy trends in a largely closed system.

This year’s session, which begins Saturday, will be watched closely by Taiwan. The Congress is expected to pass a controversial anti-secession law aimed at preventing the Taiwanese from declaring independence. China considers the self-ruling island part of its territory and has vowed to take it back by force if necessary.

Though little has been revealed about the content of the legislation or how it would help Beijing stop separatist activities, observers in Taiwan say the measure can only heighten tensions in one of Asia’s most volatile tinderboxes.

“The majority of the people in Taiwan do not like it. They view it as hostile and unnecessary,” said Chien-min Chao, a political scientist at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. “China is being provocative. They are already aiming so many missiles at Taiwan. This is just another excuse for Beijing to take Taiwan back by whatever means necessary.”

China, on the other hand, maintains that the bill is only a response to the pro-independence stance of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian.

“The Chinese government has been saying for a long time that if you recognize the one-China principle, tensions across the Taiwan Strait would naturally be relaxed,” said Xu Bodong, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the state-run Beijing Union University. “Now we are putting that into law so no matter who is in charge in the future, they will have to follow the law to maintain peace and stability.

“Taiwan independence is illegal,” Xu added. “If you don’t stop Taiwan independence, you are also violating the law. It works on both sides.”

Xu said details about the bill should be available after it had been approved by delegates.

Another item on this year’s agenda was the official retirement of former President Jiang Zemin, 78, from his last remaining post.

He handed in his resignation today as chairman of the government’s Central Military Commission.

Jiang’s successor as president, Hu Jintao, has been consolidating his power and pushing for a more populist government since becoming general secretary of the Communist Party in November 2002.

This year, the National People’s Congress will continue to tackle issues such as corruption, peasant rights and widening income disparities, which are considered among the top threats to social stability.

A phrase on the lips of arriving delegates is the call for a more “harmonious society.” The mantra is likely to become Hu’s version of Jiang’s slogan, “Three Represents.”

Although his predecessor broke new ground by allowing entrepreneurs to join party ranks, Hu is advocating greater inclusion of the poor, who have been left out of the country’s turbocharged economic growth in recent years.

To underscore the emphasis on a more efficient government, Beijing has shortened the length of the annual meetings from the usual two weeks to 10 days. Organizers also are expected to cut back the traditional reading of lengthy government reports, each presentation of which could last for hours. Instead delegates will be handed written drafts and spend more time debating the issues.

Each year, buses and official cars ferrying the thousands of delegates to and from the meetings all but paralyze Beijing traffic, becoming a hated symbol of the government’s special privilege. This year, authorities are making an extra effort to reduce the time the caravans travel the roads and to make them wait at stoplights and take turns in traffic.

“These are very practical and considerate moves,” Xu said.

At the same time, the government has tightened security in the capital -- particularly around Tiananmen Square, parts of which will be blocked to normal traffic and pedestrians. Authorities also are expected to order the roundup of potential troublemakers; dissent, even in cyberspace, will be excised by censors.

“We have to beware of infiltration by hostile forces,” according to a speech by Luo Gan, a Politburo member in charge of law enforcement, timed to the start of the Congress.