Whether they are elected by the people or not, politicians can rarely resist a bit of populism. Premier Wen Jiabao's report to lawmakers at the annual National People's Congress on Friday – China's equivalent of the US president's State of the Union address – included two big messages for the peanut gallery. First, no immediate yielding on the currency, which will be kept “basically stable”. Second, a promise to reform the hukou system of residency permits, through which economic migrants sacrifice rights to welfare, education and housing when they leave their hometowns.
不管是不是通過民選上臺的，政治家們都很少能抵擋住展現一些民粹主義的誘惑。對中國普通民眾來說，中國總理溫家寶上周五在年度全國人大會議上向代表們所做的報告（相當于美國總統的國情咨文講話），包含著兩大信息。首先，短期內政府不會在匯率問題上讓步，人民幣匯率仍將保持“基本穩定”。其次，政府承諾改革戶籍制度。在當前的戶籍制度下，經濟移民們在背井離鄉之時，即犧牲了自己享受福利、教育和住房的權利。