Wednesday, March 08, 2006

More Open Government in China, One Step at A Time

Today's WSJ again has a nice piece on how China's legislature, hitherto viewed as nothing but a rubber stamp has finally changed and become more assertative.

"China's traditionally rubber-stamp legislature is taking on a new role: a target for interest groups to lobby.

With nearly 3,000 delegates gathered in the capital until next week for the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, some representatives of different interest groups have also flocked to Beijing. They have been seeking to win the ears of delegates on the sidelines of the 10-day meeting on issues from tax policy to antidiscrimination measures for hepatitis B carriers...

Delegates -- who meet once a year to rubber stamp the premier's work report, the state budget and any bills that have been teed up -- are also becoming more outspoken in representing their constituencies."

Read the whole thing here. The slow but gradual openning of China's government is one very important reason why I think all those who predict China's pending collapse is wrong, and dead wrong on that.

No comments: