A nod to grief, then back to business: NPC refuses to be distracted by Malaysia Airlines and Kunming disasters

In many countries, national disasters can disrupt parliamentary sessions and dominate their agendas for days. But not on the mainland.

Apart from a minute's silence at the start of the National People's Congress (NPC) for victims of the deadly March 1 attack at Kunming's main train station, everything has been business as usual at the once-a-year parliamentary meeting in Beijing.

Neither did news of the disappearance of Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 carrying 239 passengers and crew, including more than 150 Chinese nationals, dominate the discussions at the NPC and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

As the Malaysia Air mystery continues to grab headlines and raise speculation around the world about what happened, most state media were restrained from reporting on the event other than repeating Xinhua's official dispatches.

A gagging order purportedly from the propaganda department was reposted on hundreds of mainland microblog messages yesterday. Two state media journalists separately verified its authenticity

"Media [outlets] are not allowed to analyse or comment on the incident. Reporting must strictly follow the authoritative accounts of the civil aviation authorities and Xinhua," it said.

It also said they should avoid interviewing victims' families and "provoking discontent". Instead, they should step up "propaganda" regarding the NPC sessions, it added.