The annual session of the Chinese Parliament began: they will deal with everything from the relationship with Taiwan to birth policies and the consumption of dog and cat meat

Voting is tightly controlled and the laws were previously approved by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders.

The two legislative bodies of China are holding their annual plenary meetings this weekend in Beijing, with the participation of more than 3,000 representatives from all regions of this country of more than 1,400 million inhabitants.

The agenda for the session, which opens this Sunday, includes bills on topics as diverse as boosting the birth rate, the consumption of cat and dog meat, sex education or Taiwan.

In this sense, one of the deputies stated that he would present proposals to promote “civil exchanges” with Taiwan, a democratic island that Beijing considers part of its territory.

The same official recalled that “Beijing’s global strategy to resolve the Taiwan issue” has been strengthened in the past year, adding that “mainland China will accelerate national unification.”

Another proposal is to boost the birth rate in the country. Among them are free education until the end of university for all children born after 2024, or the extension of maternity leave -until now reserved for full-time employees- to self-employed businesswomen and peasant women.

It also contemplates granting unmarried women the same rights as married women and lifting restrictions on registering children born out of wedlock in the civil registry.

Another of the proposals is to have a law on cyberbullying approved, especially after the suicide of a young woman who suffered a campaign of attacks on networks after posting a photo with her hair dyed pink. The country does not currently have a legal definition of cyberbullying.

On the other hand, it is also sought that nurseries have pedagogical material for sexual education.

They want to regulate the “chaos” of digital influencers for young people and improve monitoring of live content featuring children.

Another of the deputies wants to fight against the killing of dogs and cats and against the trade and consumption of their meat.

The same legislator proposes an activity that goes precisely against animal rights, which is that the population can access “the demand to be able to shoot fireworks” during holidays.

The use of these rockets is regulated or even prohibited in many cities for safety reasons and for the noise disturbance it can generate. Zhao proposes that special zones be enabled.

These sessions rarely hold surprises, since their votes are tightly controlled and the laws were previously approved by the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (PCC), the highest body of power in the Asian power.

The authorities close down the region’s factories on these days to ensure blue skies, deploy large numbers of police officers, and urge (and sometimes force) political dissidents to go on “holidays” far from the capital.

It’s also the only time of the year when the country’s most powerful politicians come together in one place, favoring behind-the-scenes negotiations, networking, and double-crossing.

This meeting will also be the first since China reversed its strict “zero covid” policy, although attendees and the media were asked to remain in quarantine in a hotel the night before it began.

A statement published this week announced that the meetings will include discussions on “a plan to reform the institutions of the Party and the State”, which has led experts to speculate about a possible revision of the national security apparatus.

The release of details on military spending will offer signs of China’s confidence in current geopolitical conditions, from tensions in the Taiwan Straits to the conflict in Ukraine.

With information from AFP

DB

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