Amid economic uncertainty, the Second Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the Second Session of the 14th National People’s Congress (commonly known as the “Two Sessions”) opened on March 4 and March 5 respectively.
When the outside world is paying attention to whether there will be a new round of economic stimulus and measures to restore market confidence.The National People’s Congress will be held on the 4thpress conference. Among them, a reporter from China News Service asked whether the Premier of the State Council would be invited to attend the press conference after the National People’s Congress concluded. Lou Qinjian, spokesperson of the National People’s Congress, responded: After the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress this year, the Prime Minister’s press conference will no longer be held; unless there are special circumstances, there will be no Prime Minister’s press conference in the next few years after the current National People’s Congress. .
The reason for his introduction is: Last year, the new Premier of the State Council Li Qiang was invited to attend a press conference, “centering on the comprehensive implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Party and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee”, and clarified the work ideas for the entire term. At the opening of the National People’s Congress, Li Qiang will deliver a government work report. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, entrusted by the State Council, will submit written planning reports and budget reports to the conference. “The main concerns of society have been specifically responded to in the above three reports.” ; The press center of the conference will increase the number of ministerial press conferences and “ministers’ corridors” and the number of attendees. Therefore, the above arrangements will be taken into consideration and the Prime Minister’s press conference will no longer be arranged.
This means that the second (and sometimes third) person in the Chinese Communist Party and the head of the Chinese government will no longer answer policy questions in person once a year as usual, but will be answered by other department heads. Whatever the reason, this is a shock bomb to Chinese politics. For Li Qiang, he will only appear at the Prime Minister’s Press Conference in 2023. This year’s National People’s Congress is the first time Premier Li Qiang has released the “Government Work Report”, but no Chinese or foreign media can directly ask the head of the government questions about this, and he will also be absent in the next few years. this important occasion. (Extended reading: “Xi Jinping’s New Economic Team: The Military Industry Department Emerges, the Party Controls Finance, and the Reformists Are About to Leave”)
According to other reports, Agence France-Presse asked at the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the same day whether China was worried that this move reflected a “not open to the outside world” attitude. Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded by saying that he thanked the media for their concern and hope to understand China’s major policies. policy, but this worry is unnecessary.
“Home Time” for Government Chiefs
SearchArticle on the WeChat public account of the National People’s CongressThe Prime Minister’s Chinese and foreign press conference after the closing of the National People’s Congress was held for the first time in 1988. This tradition continues for 35 years.
Information shows that this press conference began with the establishment of the Information Bureau of the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to Zhou Chengkui, the former director of the Information Bureau, “In the 1980s, reform and opening up was the main theme. Everyone felt that including the National People’s Congress’s various Everything in work should be relatively transparent, so the Information Bureau was established in 1987.” The relevant person in charge of the Information Bureau of the National People’s Congress also explained that the original intention of setting up the Prime Minister’s Press Conference was to allow foreign media to better understand China’s internal affairs. foreign policy.
After 1993, the prime minister’s press conference became more and more normal, and every successive prime minister attended the press conference to answer important questions.During the era when Zhu Rongji was prime minister, even moreproposeAs much as possible, give overseas reporters the opportunity to ask questions without making arrangements in advance. Journalists can ask any questions they want.
In China’s public opinion environment, senior leaders including the Prime Minister rarely hold press conferences. Therefore, the Prime Minister’s press conference after the two sessions is not only important, but also a rare “home time” for the head of the Chinese government. During this period, the Prime Minister directly answers questions from Chinese and foreign reporters. Explain China’s domestic and foreign policies, and also demonstrate the Prime Minister’s thinking and spiritual temperament.
Although press conference questions are generally considered to be prepared, press conferences over the years have also included surprising answers.
On March 14, 2010, in Beijing, China, Premier Wen Jiabao answered questions at the closing press conference of the National People’s Congress. Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images
The most famous prime minister’s question and answer can be said to be the question and answer given by then-premier Wen Jiabao at the “Two Sessions” in 2012. Prior to that, on February 6, 2012, Wang Lijun, the former deputy mayor and public security director of Chongqing, went to the Chengdu Consulate in the United States and stayed for one day before leaving. After that, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection opened an investigation into Wang Lijun’s incident, and the turmoil began to spread to those who had been “singing” for several consecutive years. Bo Xilai, then secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, who was famous for the “red against black” movement, went back and forth.
On March 14, Wen Jiabao, then member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, attended the premier’s press conference at the conclusion of the National People’s Congress. The press conference lasted three hours. Moving on to the last question, a Reuters reporter was called on and asked a political question directly: “After Wang Lijun entered the U.S. Consulate, the relevant departments of the central government have conducted an investigation. How do you personally view this incident? What do you think of this incident?” Will it affect the central government’s trust in the leaders of the Chongqing Municipal Government and the Municipal Party Committee?”
Wen Jiabao’s answer was rareHarsh criticism of Chongqing, and requested the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government to deeply reflect on the “Wang Lijun Incident” and learn lessons; Wen also cited the CCP’s 1981 document denying the “Cultural Revolution” and warned that “we must conscientiously learn from the lessons of history.” This was regarded as Directly opposed to “singing red and attacking gangsters”. The next day, Chinese official media confirmed that Bo Xilai would no longer serve as Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Secretary and would be removed from office.
At this press conference, Singapore’s “United Daily News” also asked about the reform of the political system. Wen Jiabao also emphasized that “the reform has now reached a critical stage. Without the success of the reform of the political system, the reform of the economic system cannot be carried out to the end. The reforms and construction that have been achieved Achievements may be lost, new problems in society may not be fundamentally solved, and historical tragedies such as the “Cultural Revolution” may happen again. Every responsible party member and leading cadre should have urgent feel.”
Entering the Xi era in 2012, the power gap between the general secretary and the prime minister began to widen. As Prime Minister, Li Keqiang’s public reports and media space have gradually decreased, and he can no longer compare with those of Wen Jiabao and Zhu Rongji before him. Under this circumstance, the Prime Minister’s press conference after the two sessions became a rare opportunity for Li Keqiang to directly convey information to the people. (Extended reading: “From “Wall Breaker” to “Invisible Man”: The late Li Keqiang and his ten years as Prime Minister of China”)
Li Keqiang’s most famous speech was in May 2020 at the Prime Minister’s Press Conference.When asked by People’s Daily about how the government ensured basic people’s livelihood under the impact of the epidemic in the “decisive year” of poverty alleviation, Li Keqiangbluntly“There are still 600 million low- and middle-income people in China, and their average monthly income is only about 1,000 yuan.” This remark was interpreted by some as disapproval of Xi Jinping’s plan to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects in July 2021.
And in 2022, more than a year before his death, the last time in his career as prime ministerpress conference, Li Keqiang also talked about issues such as increasing income, maintaining employment, and improving people’s livelihood. When asked by Kyodo News of Japan whether the Chinese government would further tighten restrictions on corporate behavior, Li Keqiang said at the time, “No matter how the international situation changes, China will unswervingly expand its opening up. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers will not flow backwards.” (Extended reading : “The scene of laying flowers at the former residence of Hefei: They held a private memorial service for the good man Li Keqiang in their hearts”)
On March 16, 2016, in Beijing, China, Premier Li Keqiang answered questions at the closing press conference of the National People’s Congress. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
2023 Press Conference: More Central Asian and Middle Eastern Media, Less Western Media
A review of the Prime Minister’s press conferences in the past five years shows that more than 50% of the questions are asked by foreign media every year. Among them, 9 foreign media asked questions at Li Keqiang’s last press conference in 2022, accounting for nearly 70%.
By March 2023, Xi Jinping entered his third term, and new Prime Minister Li Qiang’s first Prime Minister’s Press Conference began to have different arrangements.this timePrime Minister’s Press ConferenceThe first person to ask the question was China Central Radio, not the foreign media as it had been in the past five years. Although there are still 60% foreign media at this press conference, their composition is different. The U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) was the only major European and American media that was asked questions. Reuters and Bloomberg News, which were frequent foreign media outlets in the past, did not get the opportunity to ask questions. Instead, Uzbekistan’s “People’s Speech” and the headquarters China Arab Satellite TV in Dubai, these two media outlets had the opportunity to ask questions for the first time in the past five years at the prime minister’s press conference.
The 2023 press conference will be Li Qiang’s first two sessions press conference as Prime Minister, and it may also be the only one. When answering China Central Radio, Li Qiang first defined the division of roles between “the party and the government.” He said that the State Council only implements and implements the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and “turns the grand blueprint drawn up by the 20th National Congress of the Party into a construction drawing.” . He also focused on the private economy, saying, “The development environment of the private economy will get better and better, and the space for development will become larger and larger. We will vigorously create a market-oriented, legal and international business environment from a new starting point, and treat everyone equally.” Enterprises of all types of ownership shall protect the property rights of enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law.”
At this year’s Two Sessions, the outside world originally expected the Prime Minister to personally explain and respond to economic policies as usual and to reassure market confidence. However, this expectation fell through and the outside world could only find answers in government documents.
It is worth recalling that, for the first time after Li Qiang took office as Prime Minister,at the plenary session of the State CouncilThe “Working Rules of the State Council” have been significantly revised. (Extended reading: “When all personnel arrangements are under control, what use is the Politburo made of “his own people” to Xi Jinping?”)
Among them, the deleted parts include the content of the State Council’s work guidelines that “govern for the people, administer in accordance with the law, seek truth from facts, democratic and open, pragmatic and honest” and “adhere to making openness the norm and non-disclosure as the exception, and comprehensively promote decision-making, implementation, and “Management, services, and disclosure of results” “Matters discussed and decided by the plenary session and executive meetings of the State Council, and policies formulated by the State Council and various departments, except those that need to be kept confidential according to law, should be announced in a timely manner” “Things involving public interests and public rights that need to be widely known” Matters and matters of social concern, as well as matters that need to be disclosed by law and the State Council, should… be disclosed to the public in a legal, timely, comprehensive, accurate and specific manner” and “The State Council and various departments must strengthen policy interpretation and accurately convey policy intentions, Pay attention to market and social feedback, respond to public concerns in a timely manner, resolve doubts and confusion, and stabilize expectations.
The added content includes “State Council staff must speak politics with a clear-cut stand, deeply understand the decisive significance of the “two establishments”, strengthen the “four consciousnesses”, strengthen the “four self-confidences”, achieve “two safeguards”, and persist in Use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to arm the mind, guide practice, and promote work, keep in mind the “two overall situations”, keep in mind the “big one in the country”, and consciously adhere to the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in ideology, politics and actions. “Highly consistent, constantly improve political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, and implement the party’s leadership in all areas of the entire process of government work” and other paragraphs.
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2024-03-04 23:16:24
