E-Paper
China sets May date for Parliament in Beijing in show of post-Covid confidence
The decision to allow thousands to come to Beijing from across China is a show of confidence by the Chinese government as it tries to show to the world its success in containing the virus.
China will hold its most important political event, the annual session of its rubber-stamp Parliament in the third week of May after postponing it for more than 10 weeks because of the Covid-19 outbreak, official media announced Wednesday.
The reconvening of the Two Sessions, as it is known here, on May 21 signals that China has effectively brought the outbreak in control.
The decision to allow thousands to come to Beijing from across China is a show of confidence by the Chinese government as it tries to show to the world its success in containing the virus.
Official news agency, Xinhua said China would begin its annual Two Sessions meeting on May 21, when thousands of delegates to the National People’s Congress (NPC), the legislature, as well as to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political consultative body, gather in the capital for around 10 days.
The sessions are usually held early March.
The upcoming session, however, could be shortened, a separate state media report said, quoting Parliamentarian delegates.
During the choreographed meeting, about 3,000 national legislators from across China gather in Beijing to review work reports from the Communist Party of China-led central government as well as the country’s highest courts and the budget including for national defence for the year ahead.
The announcement was made as Beijing health authorities said on Wednesday that the Capital’s emergency response level to Covid-19 would be lowered from the first to the second level from Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported reports 22 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 21 imported cases, and 26 new asymptomatic ones in the past 24 hours.
No deaths from the disease has been reported from the disease for nearly two weeks, health authorities said.
China-Australia spat
Meanwhile, the ongoing diplomatic tussle between China and Australia seem set to deepen with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying it was “entirely reasonable” for the world to ask for an international assessment into the origins of the pandemic.
The coronavirus first emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year before spreading to rest of China and the world: Until Wednesday it had killed more than 2 lakh people, sickened over 3 million and battered the world economy to its worst state in several decades.
Morrison’s call for an international inquest has been aggressively opposed by Chinese diplomats who have said Australia should stop resorting to “petty tricks”.
On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in Canberra, said on its website that details of a call between the Chinese envoy and Australian officials had first been “obviously leaked by some Australian officials” and it needed to set the record straight.
“The Embassy of China doesn’t play petty tricks, this is not our tradition. But if others do, we have to reciprocate,” an embassy spokesperson said in the statement.
Chinse state media has strongly criticised Australia’s stand.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the nationalistic Global Times said on Chinese social media that Australia was always making trouble.
“It is a bit like chewing gum stuck on the sole of China’s shoes. Sometimes you have to find a stone to rub it off,” Hu wrote.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner and Canberra has accused Beijing of economic coercion after the Chinese ambassador threatened a boycott of Australian goods and universities by Chinese citizens.
