It’s that time of year again, when Beijing is awash in initialisms like NPC (National People’s Congress) and CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.) The signs that China’s rubber stamp legislature and its advisory pal are in session are all around: police patrols increase, the Internet slows to a crawl (YouTube was inaccessible at times in Beijing today) and official newspapers that are at least nominally competitors run nearly identical front-page layouts. Along with those clear signs of Party control, there are also a few stabs at openness. NPC delegates propose legislation. Officials hold press conferences and entertain a few tough questions from reporters.
But perhaps the best sign that the Chinese government is an ardent student of Western political stagecraft is the highly anticipated speeches that please listeners while revealing very little. Take Premier Wen Jiabao’s work report this morning. Stock markets in the region have largely been up over the past day in anticipation of an announcement of new stimulus measures from China. Wen declared that China’s deficit spending would reach a record $140 billion, but there were no details on an expansion of the previously announced $586 billion stimulus package. Likewise, Wen discussed plans to improve relations with Taiwan. His comments on improving cross-strait ties were widely covered, though Beijing has pushed the detente angle since 2007. Amid the lack of detail this week, one thing is clear. Beijing has clearly learned how to drip out old news in return for positive coverage. Who says China isn’t ready for democracy?