Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) – More than 900 million people are voting for two million seats on local people's congresses for 35,400 towns and 2,800 counties. The largest election in Chinese history started on July 1 and will last until the end of 2007. Although there is growing interest among the population, the authorities are keeping a tight grip on the ballot to avoid the election of undesirable candidates.

This is the highest-level experiment in grass-roots democracy yet in China, following direct elections for village mayors (not allowed in towns). Xu Yong, a rural expert from Huazhong Normal University, predicted greater participation of farmers and social activists to protect their rights, but also of property owners and businessmen to safeguard their interests.

So far, the majority of the population is apathetic about the vote and has little confidence, because their deputies have little influence on policy decisions, which are the remit of higher echelons of the party, so that the elected bodies are usually dismissed as rubber stamps. But observers say they are anyhow an important test in the introduction of democracy in China, to verify how well it works. Certainly Beijing is following developments carefully and premier, Wen Jiabao, told foreign media: "If the Chinese people can govern a village, in some years, they could manage to rule a town. This system could spread."

In China, direct elections were introduced in 1978 but applied in villages and counties only in 1998 after many adjustments. "If a citizen tries to present his opinion in a letter to the government, he can be accused of trespassing. But if a people's congress deputy does it, he is only doing his job," said activist Yao Lifa, who was elected a deputy to the people's congress of Qianjiang city , Hubei , in 1998.

But it is precisely the widespread participation by dissidents urging members of the public to run in the elections that has alarmed the government.  Members of a group of activists calling themselves the "Pan-Blue Alliance" after the Taiwanese opposition grouping have been detained as they encouraged more people to take part. Sheng Huaren , a vice-chairman of the National People's Congress, used the party publication Seeking Truth to warn against "infiltration" by foreign powers and disgruntled groups who want to "create division" and "make a big fuss out of questions such as democracy and human rights". Sheng instructed local officials to carefully screen candidates to ensure they are not involved in "illegal activities and cults". Local cadres should organise activities where candidates could introduce themselves to voters so they would not form their own teams to promote themselves.

The government has also instructed journalists not to report on particular elections or any campaigning activities by candidates. They are allowed to report only on general trends to show democracy is becoming more widespread.

The electoral campaign is one of the main problems: just last year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Assembly specified that voters could propose their own candidates and that candidates could meet voters. But obstacles facing those who contest are frequent and sometimes even hinder people who want to vote but cannot do so because of administrative "dysfunctions".

Lu Banglie , a political activist who was beaten up by thugs for talking about what happened in Taishi village in Guangdong, said he would run for the Zhijiang elections in Hubei, where he was elected in 2003 But he still does not know whether his name is among the list of candidates. Although the law calls for transparency, Lu said candidates were usually picked behind closed doors.