Deputies take time out to talk to press

As a first-timer covering the NPC and CPPCC sessions, I was happy to take a tip from a colleague on how to secure a decent interview: "Wait in the passageway between the conference hall and the toilets."

While I didn't want to doubt the wisdom of the words, as I waited in the hallway on Friday, I began to feel I was missing out on the panel discussions. Also, I started to reason that even if I did manage to waylay a congress member or deputy, would he or she really want to talk to me en route to answer Mother Nature's call?

Probably not, I thought. So I decided on a change of tack, and set off to a panel discussion involving NPC deputies from the Fujian delegation.

Inside the hall I found all the deputies already seated. There were also a dozen or so reporters, one of whom told me the deputies had promised to give each the chance to ask questions after the discussion.

I was skeptical, even though I knew that all the open sessions, for the first time this year, were supposed to include 20 minutes for questions and answers.

As the discussion was about to begin, Lu Zhangong, Fujian Party secretary, asked the deputies to introduce themselves.

"I hope we might get to know each other better through this mutual introduction," Lu said.

What followed came as a pleasant surprise.

By five minutes to noon, the deputies had been answering questions for more than an hour. And even on sensitive topics, such as the Xiamen PX project and Taiwan "referendum", not one of them answered "No comment".

At noon, when Yu Cheng, coordinator of the Fujian delegation, reminded Lu the discussion had overrun by 30 minutes, he still allowed the media time for three more questions.

It was a perfect example of how a panel discussion should be run and I am looking forward to more of the same.

(China Daily 03/11/2008 page6)