Broadcast sign of openness and democracy
Print Edition
ON national TV, Ma Shanxiang tells people how to best solve quarrels with their neighbors, Tashi shares new developments of his Tibetan school, and Yao Ming encourages teenagers to play basketball.
Welcome to China’s “passage interview,” a live broadcast that presents China through the stories of common people as well as international superstars.
The broadcast is part of the country’s “two sessions,” an important annual event in China’s political calendar.
The two sessions serve as a window for observers to closely watch where the world’s second-largest economy is heading.
For years, domestic and foreign news media have squeezed into press conferences and political meetings, trying to create stories from statements of political heavyweights during the two-week event. The stories might come from somewhere else — personal experiences of legislators and advisers who pass through the lobby of the Great Hall of the People to attend the plenary meetings.
Passage interviews
China first broadcast the “passage interviews” with lawmakers and political advisers during the national two sessions in 2018. This year, many local two sessions which preceded the national one, also adopted similar live broadcasts. Lawmakers and political advisers from across the country, different professions and ethnicities answered questions during the interviews.
The agenda is extensive this year. Scientists hinted China’s plans for space and AI. Officials introduced the latest local developments on the country’s grand strategies such as the Xiongan New Area and the Greater Bay Area. Local-level workers told stories of the people and regions they represent.
The interviewees answered questions, voiced problems and often struck a constructive note in their answers.
“We not only present problems facing our jobs and society at the sessions but also focus on their causes and solutions,” said Ma Shanxiang, a legal mediator in southwest China’s Chongqing, who did a passage interview this year.
Ma, with more than 30 years of experience working for a local community, shared his dispute-solving solutions during the interview.
Over the years, Ma has resolved more than 2,000 disputes ranging from family quarrels to bigger issues like rallies against relocation programs or issues with layoffs.
“We are the ones who face the problems directly,” he said. “During the passage interview, we speak from our experience to show people what the society is really like.”
Like Ma, several lawmakers who head poverty-stricken villages voiced problems during their interviews, such as poor network coverage in remote areas, lack of garbage disposal facilities and insufficient access to employment information.
Addressing these issues on national TV marks the Chinese government’s attitude toward greater openness. It’s also a snapshot of Chinese democracy — devoid of partisan fights or destructive critiques, and in favor of diverse voices and consensus.
During one passage interview, three political advisers from the Mongolian, Tibetan and Uygur ethnicities dressed in traditional clothes and stood behind the microphones to take questions from the press.
Tashi, a Tibetan language teacher from a primary school in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, introduced the changes happening in his school. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in a county, a township or a village, the most beautiful building in Tibet must be its school,” Tashi said.
Built in 1990, his school had only eight teachers, 108 students and one teaching building. “But now it has 155 teachers, 2,112 students and three big teaching buildings equipped with advanced teaching equipment,” he said.
An Australian reporter from Hong Kong Satellite Television, who only gave his Chinese name as Maizi, watched Tashi’s interview. He was impressed by many topics mentioned by the political advisers. “Such progress made in remote places shows the Chinese government’s strong support for the development of Tibet. I’m looking forward to the region’s further progress in the future,” he said.
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