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Liu Xiang faces different hurdle as stars fluff their advisory lines

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For a week or so, former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang faced a personal obstacle that increased in size as the days went by: the mounting public criticism over his two-year absence from the annual CPPCC session.

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In a last-minute attempt to salvage his battered image, Liu, who had been in the United States for three months for surgery to repair his right Achilles tendon, flew to Beijing two days before the session ended.

He attended a discussion session of his sports panel and yesterday's closing ceremony, apologising for his absence.

The 25-year-old athlete was appointed a delegate last year and made it clear that he did not prepare any proposals this year because he was 'young and was there mainly for study'. As modest as that sounds, the hurdler seemed to forget that as a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, his mission was to advise on national issues.

And he was not alone. A prominent film director said during a television interview that he had wanted to fulfil his political commitment as a CPPCC delegate, but he was simply too busy with his full-time job.

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The situation is not helped by fellow delegates regularly mobbing celebrities for pictures rather than reading reports or taking part in panel discussions. It is also common to see delegates sneak out for long tea breaks during the panel sessions.

The result, according to several outspoken delegates, has been wackier, poorer-quality proposals.

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