HAVING A SAY IN STATE AFFAIRS

Jiang Shusheng from the China Democratic League, founded in 1941, said the results of his league members' suggestion on education were seen in Premier Wen's government work report, submitted to the ongoing parliamentary session on Wednesday.

About 60 percent of the league members are from the education circle, including 110 presidents and vice presidents of universities and more than 60 academicians. They proposed to the government that education should be taken as a strategic sector for development, more than an issue concerning the people's livelihood.

In Wen's report, education has been lifted to a strategic high. "We must ensure that our children receive a good education, provide education that satisfies the needs of the people and improve the overall quality of the population," it reads.

China is increasingly aware of the ecological concerns behind the world's most ambitious water conservation facility, the Three Gorges Dam. Few people knew the earliest warnings came from Jiu San (September 3) Society of scientists.

"We supported the plan to build the dam, but warned of the ecological impact on the Yangtze River's upper reaches and suggested efforts to preserve the ecosystem and exploit resources in a more rational manner," said the society's leader Han Qide.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2008)