BEIJING, Mar. 12 -- They do not hesitate to hold their punches when they put forward suggestions on how to improve governance or soft pedal when it comes to criticizing the government.

    They think it is their duty to do so and "share weal and woe," with the Chinese Communist Party (CPC).

    "How to improve our participation in, and discussion of, political affairs will determine the non-Communist parties' development," said Zhang Huaixi, executive vice-chairman of the central committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and former vice-governor of Jiangsu Province.

    Though they are under the leadership of the CPC, the eight non-Communist parties exercise legally independent democratic supervision over the CPC and the government through suggestions and criticism, he added.

    "Our voices are increasingly being noted and our enthusiasm is rising because of that," Zhang said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual full session of the top political advisory body the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

    "I never feel like a flower vase as some suggest," said Wei Wei, a member of the China Democratic League. "In fact, the non-Communist parties have become more assertive in assuming the historical and political responsibilities they inherited.

    "The job scope of a democratic party member has expanded. We are increasingly involved with people's concerns including public safety, child welfare, and services to senior citizens to protect the interests of needy people," he added.

    The membership of the eight parties has reached more than 630,000 now from 330,000 in 1989. Most of them are academics and intellectuals.

    In the past five years, the parties made more than 180 important suggestions on key projects involving land use and the protection of environmental resources. And they have put forward about 20,000 proposals on improvement of government affairs.

    They are often outspoken but their words earn nods of appreciation and applause.

    During the third session of the 10th National Committee of the CPPCC which is scheduled to close today, one of the issues they rose was the economic waste by officials.

    Sun Jiye, a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and a CPPCC member, said the lavish use of government cars was a "shocking waste."

    "Each government car costs at least 50,000 yuan (US$6,000) a year in maintenance, but its operating efficiency is only one-fifth of a taxi," Sun said. He added that a study found that cars were driven for official persons only one-third of the time. For the remainder, they are plying for the personal use of officials or drivers.

    He called for an immediate reform of the country's government transportation system.

    A number of proposals suggested that the personal wealth of leading officials be audited.

    And he said senior officials should report their purpose of travel before they leave for foreign countries. These suggestions received a positive response from the supervision authorities.

    It's not that the parties are only finding fault with governance they very often belong to, and support, a variety of groups.

    The parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce send research teams to remote poor regions to map out policies and provide training or jobs for local people. They also undertake intensive sustainable agricultural programmes.

    Bijie, an experimental region in Guizhou Province, was once one of the poorest areas in China. Recently, it has notched up significant achievements with the help of the parties. By the end of last year, the number of people living below the poverty line dropped from 3.12 million in 1988 to 560,000; and farmers' per capital income has risen from 226 yuan (US$27) to 1,665 yuan (US$202). The development model is gradually being extended to the rest of the province.

    "Now, residents in the counties know there is a poverty-reduction team which can be relied on," said Gu Jiu, a commissioner of Bijie prefecture.

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(Source: China Daily)