"If such an idea as the protection of lawful private property is
written into China's Constitution, some local governments and real
estate developers would feel less confident about recklessly
leveling private residences," said Shanghai-based real estate
lawyer Liu Weiping Tuesday. Liu specializes in preventing the
illegal demolition of residential property.
Liu made the remark in reference to the annual sessions of the
National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which are scheduled to open in
early March.
Deliberation on the draft amendment to the Constitution, which
has been drawing attention in all circles, will be placed high on
the agenda for the NPC session.
It will be the Constitution's fourth amendment, involve 14
revisions and cover a wide range of issues of public concern not
tackled before.
The protection of citizens' lawful private property and respect
for and protection of human rights are expected to be written into
the Constitution. Some revisions will also be made to improve the
land acquisition, social welfare and insurance systems.
The current Constitution, which contains 138 articles in four
chapters, was formulated in 1982. It has been amended three times,
with a total of 17 revisions.
"Adding 'respect for and protection of human rights' to the
Constitution shows that securing citizens' rights will be promoted
to a very high level," says Professor Liu Jitong of Peking
University's Sociology Department.
Wang Yufeng, a 25-year-old white-collar worker in a private
company, said that although he has a handsome salary now, he and
his colleagues still worry about whether their future pensions and
medical care will be ensured. Many people like Wang even choose to
emigrate to other countries.
"We hope the country's social welfare and insurance system will
not only care for the disadvantaged, but also pay attention to
white-collar workers," he says.
Professor Wang Lei, from the Law School of Peking University,
said improving the social insurance system will be included in the
Constitution this time because China's existing market economy
calls for a matching system of social welfare and insurance to meet
increasing public demand for social security.
Hot issues abound
But amending the Constitution is not the only hot issue these
days.
One of China's largest news websites posed the question to its
users, "What issues in the upcoming NPC and CPPCC sessions attract
you most?" The list was long, including anti-corruption, unbalanced
regional economic development, the income gap, boosting farmers'
income, education costs, legal rights of migrant workers, the
emergency response system for public health and the March 20
referendum in Taiwan.
Halting corruption is the top concern for some 83 percent of
those who responded to the survey.
People said the central government's determination to fight
corruption can be seen in the punishment of 13 ministerial-level
officials for corruption, including the former vice governor of
Anhui Province, Wang Huaizhong, and the former minister of land and
resources, Tian Fengshan, in 2003.
"We still need a lot of improvement in the emergency response
system for public health, although we have such a system since the
outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003," says
Zhang Baolan, director of the Medical Department of the PLA's
Central Hospital.
During the annual sessions, NPC deputies and CPPCC members are
expected to hear the government work report, a report on the plans
for economic and social development, a budget report, and work
reports from the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People's Court
and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
They will review the past year's work by the central government
and also arrange plans for the coming year.
Professor Wu Jiang, of the National School of Administration,
believes the central authorities have worked efficiently and
effectively over the past year, citing such areas as fighting SARS,
making efforts to curb unemployment, increasing farmers' income and
realizing an annual economic growth rate of 9.1 percent.
"More importantly, the new central government has adopted a
down-to-earth attitude and formed a work style of seeking truth in
their leadership," says Wu. "All this may lead the public to
believe that the reports made by the government are not only a
summary of the past year's work, but also will exert far-reaching
influence on the future lives of the Chinese people."
(China Daily February 25, 2004)