On Thursday, 21 May, China’s Peoples Political Consultative Congress will meet in Beijing and on the following day the National People’s Congress begins.
In all about 5,000 delegates will assemble and the only uncertain question is how they can observe social distancing when they come together in the Great Hall of the People.
All the economic and political issues on the agenda have already been decided so the main role of the delegates will be to clap their hands in approval.
The Chinese government has taken the Corona virus pandemic very seriously and has done a good job in managing it. As President Xi said, it is ‘A great victory and model for the world.’
An example of how thorough it has been, is the procedure for citizens returning from abroad.
Two weeks before they depart they have to fill out a long questionnaire detailing who they are, what flight they will be on, where they have been recently and what they have eaten. For the next 14 days, before they depart, they have to send in daily updates on their temperature and general state of health.
On arrival in China they will have to go into a two-week quarantine, at their own expense, in a government approved building. What they do while they are isolated is up to themselves but they can watch the 10-day Congress in the Great Hall on TV and join in by clapping their hands.