China’s rich and famous gather at top political meeting

[WisdomBeing]

I have been wondering what the CPPCC was doing since I hadn't read much news about it. The first time i heard about the CPPCC was in this article, Dorje Shugden Lamas attend the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) 10th government committee’s first conference, http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/dorje-shugden-lamas-attend-the-tibet-autonomous-region-10th-government-committees-first-conference/ which was held in June last year. While the CPPCC may be merely ornamental, there does appear to be high level Government officials present as well as high profile personalities such as the Chinese Panchen lama and the movie actor Jackie Chan. It would be interesting to see if the CPPCC's discussions are open to the public via the media. Especially as Dorje Shugden lamas are also included in the CPPCC.


China’s rich and famous gather at top political meeting
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2014/03/chinas-rich-and-famous-gather-at-top-political-meeting/
By Capital FM | March 3, 2014

BEIJING, March 3 – Billionaires, political princelings and entertainment celebrities were among more than 2,000 delegates who gathered in Beijing Monday for the annual meeting of an official Chinese debating chamber.
The annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened in the Great Hall of the People with a moment of silence for the victims of a deadly knife attack in southwest China on Saturday night.

The CPPCC is part of the Communist Party-controlled governmental structure and meets once a year to discuss social and economic policies, although it has a largely symbolic role.

A total of 2,172 members were present Monday, including business tycoons, political scions and sports and movie stars, according to a transcript of the opening ceremony, which came ahead of the opening session Wednesday of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber stamp parliament.

Robin Li, co-founder and chairman of Chinese search engine Baidu and according to Forbes magazine the third-richest person in China with a net worth of 67.7 billion yuan ($11 billion), is a delegate representing China’s business community, a list on the CPPCC website showed.

He is joined by Xu Jiayin, chairman of real estate firm Evergrande, who has a fortune estimated at 32.9 billion yuan, and Li Shufu, head of Zhejiang Geely, which bought Volvo’s car business in 2010.

Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the elder son of Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is also a “specially invited” member of the CPPCC, the list showed.

- Political scions present -

Some representatives had strong political family ties, such as Mao Xinyu, grandson of Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong, and Deng Nan, a daughter of Deng Xiaoping, who opened the country to the outside world after the Cultural Revolution.

Jiang Zehui, an adoptive sister of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and Wu Zhiming, a nephew of the retired leader, were also among the delegates.

Other CPPCC members include Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan and Feng Xiaogang, one of China’s highest-grossing film directors known for his works such as Back to 1942, a movie about a major famine in central China during World War II.

Writer and Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan and China’s choice as the Panchen Lama, a senior Tibetan Buddhist leader — who is not recognised by the exiled Dalai Lama — were also on the member list.

The CPPCC is generally seen as a symbolic organisation with little political teeth. Its role is to present Chinese politics as inclusive of other groups and social organisations than the Communist Party, despite the latter’s overwhelming control.

But its membership is still coveted because it has access to the top leadership.

Five people were stripped of their CPPCC membership over the past year, reportedly for corruption offences, including Liu Yingxia, one of China’s richest women.

Yu Zhengsheng, the CPPCC chairman and a member of the Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, said at the opening ceremony that the delegates must “strictly abide by” laws and “conscientiously refine their sense of morality and conduct”.

“CPPCC committee members must… cherish this honour and safeguard the image of the CPPCC,” he said.

[WisdomBeing]

This is a similar article to the above, just thought i would include it in for a slightly different perspective - and a photo.

China's rich and famous gather at top political meeting
Billionaires, political heavyweights and entertainment celebrities were among more than 2,000 delegates who gathered in Beijing on Monday for the annual meeting of an official Chinese debating chamber.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-s-rich-and-famous/1019078.html

BEIJING: Billionaires, political heavyweights and entertainment celebrities were among more than 2,000 delegates who gathered in Beijing on Monday for the annual meeting of an official Chinese debating chamber.

The annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened in the Great Hall of the People with a moment of silence for the victims of a deadly knife attack in southwest China on Saturday night.

The CPPCC is part of the Communist Party-controlled governmental structure and meets once a year to discuss social and economic policies, although it has a largely symbolic role.

A total of 2,172 members were present Monday, including business tycoons, political scions and sports and movie stars, according to a transcript of the opening ceremony, which came ahead of the opening session Wednesday of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament.

Robin Li, co-founder and chairman of Chinese search engine Baidu and according to Forbes magazine the third-richest person in China with a net worth of 67.7 billion yuan ($11 billion), is a delegate representing China's business community, a list on the CPPCC website showed.

He is joined by Xu Jiayin, chairman of real estate firm Evergrande, who has a fortune estimated at 32.9 billion yuan, and Li Shufu, head of Zhejiang Geely, which bought Volvo's car business in 2010.

Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the elder son of Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing, is also a "specially invited" member of the CPPCC, the list showed.

Some representatives had strong political family ties, such as Mao Xinyu, grandson of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong, and Deng Nan, a daughter of Deng Xiaoping, who opened the country to the outside world after the Cultural Revolution.

Jiang Zehui, an adoptive sister of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and Wu Zhiming, a nephew of the retired leader, were also among the delegates.

Other CPPCC members include Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan and Feng Xiaogang, one of China's highest-grossing film directors known for his works such as Back to 1942, a movie about a major famine in central China during World War II.

Writer and Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan and China's choice as the Panchen Lama, a senior Tibetan Buddhist leader -- who is not recognised by the exiled Dalai Lama -- were also on the member list.

The CPPCC is generally seen as a symbolic organisation with little political teeth. Its role is to present Chinese politics as inclusive of other groups and social organisations than the Communist Party, despite the latter's overwhelming control.

But its membership is still coveted because it has access to the top leadership.

Five people were stripped of their CPPCC membership over the past year, reportedly for corruption offences, including Liu Yingxia, one of China's richest women.

Yu Zhengsheng, the CPPCC chairman and a member of the Communist Party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, said at the opening ceremony that the delegates must "strictly abide by" laws and "conscientiously refine their sense of morality and conduct".

"CPPCC committee members must... cherish this honour and safeguard the image of the CPPCC," he said.

- AFP/de

[Klein]

It is a good surprise to read that HH the Panchen Lama is included in this powerful gathering of movers and shakers of China. Whether HH is the real one or not is not important. The fact that HH is invited, shows that China is subtly promoting Tibetan Buddhism and placing high importance to HH.

What the Chinese need is spiritual development to put a balance in their samsaric environment where the main focus is amassing material wealth. Since HH the Panchen Lama was a Dorje Shugden practioner in his previous life, the current incarnation should also be practising Dorje Shudgen. HH would be a powerful spokesperson to promote this practice in China.

[Big Uncle]

Actually, I like the sound of this. I think it is the Chinese govt's way of feeling the pulse of the Chinese people. This is perhaps a precursor for democracy with a Chinese twist perhaps. The Chinese govt know that if they don't understand the people enough, they will eventually loose grip on the people. It has happened so many times in Chinese history and someone would just come in and take over.

On the other hand, it is nice that they have religious personalities in there like the Panchen Lama. I am sure he is pretty much restricted by an unspoken code of conduct laid down by the Chinese govt. But anyway, I think that may not matter as much as the fact that a Buddhist leader has a say on such a grand forum as this one. I hope in time, more and more Buddhist leaders would be invited to join the ranks and perhaps positively influencing dialogue and infusing hints of spirituality into an otherwise heavily secular forum.

[yontenjamyang]

The great Emperor Kangxi who finally united China after years of civil wars during the 17th century is regarded as an incarnation of Tulku Dragpa Gyaeltsen. So the Buddhas and Boddhisattvas not only incarnate as high Lamas and Tulkus but in any form that can benefit beings.
China being the fastest growing economy in the world needs the incarnations of the Buddhas and Boddhisattvas more now than ever. So the CPPCC looks like a gathering of gods; rich and successful; and amidst it the Panchen Lama, a Buddha in human form.
Somehow the karma of the Chinese are such that they have it all, samsara and nirvana; more than any country.

[shugdenpromoter]

Wow, it is good that the Chinese government included Panchen Lama as one of the guest for this "gathering". From this, one can derived that the Chinese are recognising Buddhism as a major part of China's growth. After all, majority of the big money & influence are now in China. Look, the latest runway for Channel, Victoria Secrets, Dior has Chinese model in them and as the years goes by, more Chinese models are added into the catwalk. This is how influential China is to the world.

A thought just occurred to me, would all these participants be associated with CTA or HH? I don't think so as it will jeapordise their stake in China. But will they associate themselves with Panchen Lama...quite likely. A major reliasation for CTA as the West will one day soon loose their appeal and for what CTA or HH wants to achieved i.e. to spread Buddhism, one will need China. By this logic, the practices which Panchen Lama has will also grow including Dorje Shugden.

Sometimes, I do wonder if CTA played their card right, HH would have been invited also for this "gathering" .

[WisdomBeing]

The Chinese government is very wily to engage in Buddhism. Buddhism is entrenched within the Chinese culture, despite Mao's attempts to remove religion from its very fabric. The modern Chinese government realizes this and instead of trying to suppress religion, it has wisely decided to support it because the government realizes that it cannot fight what is intrinsically within thus it is better to engage and thus control it.

The Chinese government would never work with any monks who are affiliated with HH the Dalai Lama so who would they work with, who they can trust NOT to have anything to do with the Dalai Lama? Dorje Shugden monks of course. Ergo the Panchen Lama et al. It makes perfect sense for the Chinese government to work with the very monks whom the Dalai Lama has ostracized.

And perhaps this is finally the very big picture that the Dalai Lama has had since he came into exile. How to get the very wonderful, devout Tibetan monks to be able to spread the Dharma in Tibet? The Chinese would never let the Dalai Lama back in to Tibet to teach, so who would the Chinese let teach? Of course – the ‘enemies’ of the Dalai Lama – Dorje Shugden practitioners and lamas.