A netizen in the southern coastal province of Guangdong has invited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to conduct online chatting with
netizens worldwide during the upcoming parliamentary session in
Beijing, citing the successful Internet communication experience of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
"With this year's 'two sessions' around the corner, I have a
bold request, that is, I want to invite Premier Wen to log on the
Internet during the session period and conduct online chatting with
Chinese and foreign netizens across the world -- about state
issues, family affairs and other big or small topics," the netizen,
who identified himself as "an ordinary Chinese", wrote in an online
letter posted at the BBS forum of baoliao.oeeee.com on March 1.
The "two sessions" refer to the once-a-year
full meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's
parliament, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top
advisory body. This year's NPC and CPPCC sessions are slated to
open in Beijing on Saturday and Monday respectively.
According to Southern Metropolis News, which sponsored
the special BBS forum column titled "I have a question for the
premier", the netizen is a college lecturer in Guangzhou, capital
of Guangdong, who only revealed his real-life identity as a Mr.
Luo.
Luo wrote in his letter that he believes online communication is
a good way to increase "emotional exchange and intimacy" between
national leaders and ordinary people.
"In Russia, President Putin has chatted online with Russian and
foreign netizens for several times, sometimes even discussing his
first love...German Chancellor also opened a video blog on the
Internet," said Luo, who used to be a visiting scholar in the
United States.
"You have eaten dumplings with miners at the bottom of a mine
shaft on the eve of the Chinese lunar new year, and have also
helped rural migrant workers seek the timely payment of their wage
arrears. All these things have made us feel very close to you
emotionally," Luo added.
"Even if you can take several minutes out of your tight schedule
and just answer a couple of questions from the netizens, it would
be a great encouragement to the country's 130 million netizens and
the 1.3 billion population of China," he wrote.
According to Southern Metropolis News, Luo's invitation
letter was actually inspired by Premier Wen's remarks at last
year's two sessions, when he met Chinese and foreign journalists at
a routine press conference immediately after the closing of the
parliamentary session.
Wen had told the journalists that he gained "confidence and
strength" from the fact that Chinese netizens had raised hundreds
of thousands of questions to him concerning his work and the
performance of his cabinet through the country's leading news
websites.
The newspaper said that Xu Yuanyuan, an NPC deputy from
Guangdong, had agreed to carry Luo's invitation to Beijing and may
convey it to the premier during the two sessions.
Internet has enjoyed a rapid development in China since the late
1990s, and the number of Chinese Internet users reached 132 million
at the end of 2006, second largest in the world only after the
United States.
In recent years, Internet is playing an increasingly important
role in the political life of Chinese. More and more people tend to
put forward suggestions, voice their opinions or join policy
debates through BBS forums, online polls or personal blogs.
Ahead of this year's two sessions, a dozen Chinese websites and
news organizations launched BBS forum columns or online surveys
similar to the one run by Southern Metropolis News.
Lu Jian, a China Central Television (CCTV) anchorman in charge
of one of such columns, said that by late Thursday some 120,000
netizens had left messages in his column designed to "ask the
premier a question."
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(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2007)