英闻天下——405 NPC Deputies Improving China's Legal System

 　　Lawmakers at this year's session of the National People's Congress have submitted about 400 motions.

 

　　CRI's Zhang Ru takes a closer look on how their motions and suggestions will contribute to China's legal system.

 

　　NPC deputy Pang¹ Lijuan is an expert on preschool education. She has been calling for the legalization of preschool education for many years.

 

　　Last year, China's Ministry² of Education designated preschool education as its key legislative³ program.

 

　　Pang Lijuan says submitting motions is a major duty of NPC deputies.

 

　　"In recent years, the National People's Congress has put special emphasis on the quality of legalization. For example, it says deputies had better include a draft framework of the new law in their motions. If you want to amend⁴ a law, you should also elaborate on how to amend it. So in my motion on preschool education, I drew up a framework that sheds light on the key items."

 

　　A motion must get the signatures of at least 30 NPC deputies before the NPC presidium accepts it.

 

　　This year, the presidium has decided⁵ that none of these motions is urgent enough to be deliberated at the ongoing⁶ session. They, therefore, will be passed on to special committees for further discussion.

 

　　Every year, the deputies will also hand over thousands of suggestions and criticisms on major political and social issues of the government.

 

　　For the presentation of suggestions and criticisms, there is no restriction⁷ on the timing⁸, scope and the number of sponsoring members.

 

　　NPC deputy Zhou Hongyu is known for advocating free compulsory⁹ education in China's rural areas.

 

　　"Why had some lawmakers called for free compulsory education before, but to no avail? I thought it was because none of them worked out a calculating standard."

 

　　Zhou first put forward his suggestion at the NPC session of 2003. But the Ministry of Finance sent him a response three months later, saying that as a developing country, China's education investment was not able to cover a free education program.

 

　　Then Zhou calculated how much the government would need to spend each year if free education was implemented¹⁰.

 

　　Zhou raised the suggestion again in 2004, emphasizing the feasibility and urgency of the move.

 

　　The suggestion became reality in 2005.

 

　　Many people are curious about what exactly the NPC deputies will do after the session ends when they go back to continue their routine daily work as government officials, professors, workers or farmers.

 

　　He Yehui, deputy secretary-general of the NPC Standing¹¹ Committee, says lawmakers take part in training and conduct surveys when the NPC is not in session to ensure the quality of their motions and suggestions.

 

　　"The deputies' political awareness¹², professional quality and ability to perform their duties vary greatly. The training will help deputies broaden their horizons and better take up their duties. Plus, according to the law, the deputies' survey consists of two parts. First, during their leisure time they can conduct investigations¹³ related to their profession. Second, every year, they should spend one week investigating a specific field and another week making inspections¹⁴."

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Ru.

1 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

8 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

9 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

10 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》