“Romance and marriage classes” in schools, using the social credit system to penalize people who abandon their pets and the end of mandatory English classes are among the proposals made on the sidelines of China’s most important political conference.
The proposals were made by delegates at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CCPPC), one of the two main political meetings to be held in Beijing this week under the banner of lianghui, or two sessions. While much of the focus is on high-level geopolitical and national ads, social policy suggestions have caught the attention of the Chinese people online.
The government of China is facing a crisis of an aging population, a decrease in birth and marriage rates and an increase in divorce rates, which it aims to address with population goals and an increase in the retirement age. This week, CCPPC delegate Yu Xinwei also proposed mandatory college classes to strengthen “emotional education” in relationships.
“Most college students’ understanding of emotions and sex is based on knowledge of physiological sexual health,” said Yu. “When facing emotional or romantic setbacks, they are prone to being angry, losing control and even committing crimes.”
The proposal attracted support on China’s social media, with some suggesting that it be taught earlier in high school. A related hashtag has been viewed almost half a billion times and reposted 22,000 times.
A separate proposal to link pet ownership to China’s controversial social credit system also caught the eye. Dai Junfeng, secretary general of the Islamic Association of Yunnan Province, said at the meeting that there are major problems with the control of stray animals and stray pets are a contributing factor. Dai asked for the microchip of animals to identify the owners.
“At the same time, this can connect to the citizen’s credit system and include the act of abandoning pets in their personal bad credit records,” he said.
A Weibo hashtag related to the animal control proposal has been viewed almost 100 million times, with many in favor, although some were concerned that it would take the system too far.
“This can be resolved through administrative means, do not abuse the social credit system,” said one.
Social credit systems exist in all provinces, municipalities and districts in China, using technology and surveillance data to give citizens personalized scores based on their actions and to apply punishments – such as travel blacklists – for “discredited” people.
The different systems individually interpret general national guidelines and opinions, which means that there are a number of geographic-dependent crimes that can lead to blacklisting, which is then shared with the national administration for publication.
The system has attracted the concern of human rights groups and international observers, but it has a certain level of support in China. A 2019 ethnographic study by University College London researcher Xinyuan Wang found that many people viewed the system as “a national project to increase public morality by combating fraud and crime and combating what is currently seen as a crisis of national trust ”.
Séverine Arsène, a researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that some administrations “go too far” with their interpretations of the national orientation, but that Dai’s hypothetical proposal was not that far away.
She said: “Many municipal credit systems have this type of behavior in their criteria. It is a lot about respecting the rules and regulations at the level of daily life. “
Among other proposals, Xu Jin, a member of the political group Jiusan Society, told the CPCC that he wanted more school time devoted to subjects such as Chinese and mathematics, and the end of mandatory English classes. Xu argued that these lessons were “only useful for the minority”, given the improvements in translation devices.
Six delegates also called for stronger supervision of facial recognition technology to prevent abuse of people’s privacy.
A proposal to the parallel parliament, the National People’s Congress, to give teachers a tax break has been seen more than 130 million times on Weibo, and a request for gender-neutral parental leave has also been popular.
The CCPPC is composed mainly of party delegates and representatives of approved political parties and is a largely ceremonial advisory body.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report