Beijing (AsiaNews) – As the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) came to a close, observers are left with the impression that China's leaders are incapable of dealing with the country's problems and contradictions.

Faced with huge issues such as unemployment, poverty, corruption, energy shortages the Communist leadership decided to stay the course and just tinker at the margins. With contradictions left untouched, they seemed to have decided that stability can be ensured by a stronger military.

Speaking to AsiaNews, young Chinese man said that the NPC that ended yesterday "was just a big, useless vaudeville show".

"People here in China have a lot of problems, but they know they can't rely on politicians for solutions," he added.
Indeed, it would be hard to expect much from a parliament that meets once a year for a few days and does what the Communist Party tells it to do.

The government stated it would maintain the current 8 per cent growth rate and create nine million new jobs, not enough to reduce the ranks of the unemployed which run in the tens of million.

Faster growth is however out of the question since it would generate inflation, this according to Prime Minster Wen Jiabao. Faster growth would also mean the collapse of the country's banking system, which is already overexposed. More candidly, Mr Wen said, that "if the economy grows any faster, it will generate unsustainable social pressures".

In fact, in his report to the NPC, the Prime Minister said China was experiencing extreme social tensions. Spending 66.4 billion yuans in farming subsidies and cancelling farm taxes by 2007 was offered as a way to reduce such tensions. However, this seems to be excessively optimistic. In part, because last year's NCP had already decided to axe the farming sector's tax burden by 2008, this year's offer only means anticipating the plan by one year. For at least another year, rural people will still live on an average income of just under 3000 yuan (less than one euro a day which corresponds to China's poverty line). To fully appreciate how little the offer actually is, one has to keep in mind that 900 million people live in rural areas.

Similarly, Wen offered more funds for education, health care, irrigation, but all in very vague terms.

All this is not enough to stem the unrest that is spreading across rural areas, where the military seems to be the only means to maintain social control.

Like every previous year, the defence budget has increased, this year by 12.6 per cent to reach 247.7 billion yuan (US$ 29.9 billion). At the same time, many analysts view the newly-voted anti-secession law, which threatens the use of force against Taiwan, as a gesture to reassure the military and warn all those in Xinjiang and Tibet who would like to secede from China.

Such a gesture has not come without contradictions. For instance, President Hu Jintao told the military to both "prepare for possible fighting" as well as "act to prevent wars. [But] if they do break out, win them". Conversely, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, faithful to his 'people's person' image, said that the anti-secession law "was only meant to promote peace".

In terms of foreign policy, this NPC discussed China's warming relations with Russia and its increasing frictions with Japan and the United States, both of which oppose any aggressive Chinese move towards Taiwan.

For some this realignment has less to do with Taiwan than with China's fast growing energy needs. Economic issues are increasingly playing a crucial role in its foreign policy. Energy is one; monetary policy is another.

To its main trading partners who have called for yuan revaluation, Prime Minister Wen has said that his government was preparing a "plan to reform the exchange rate system". Currently, the yuan has a fixed rate of 1 to 8 with the US dollar.

At the press conference after the PNC came to a close, he told reporters that there were "unexpected surprises" in store for the future.

In the end, despite the great nationalist surge caused by the debate over the anti-secession law, boredom seems to have been the main feature at this year's PNC to the delight of foreign photo-reporters, who caught on camera President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao yawning. More embarrassing are the photos of PNC delegates napping.