Soy sauce delegate
来自China Digital Space
jiàngyóu wěiyuán 酱油委员
Rubber stamp at the annual National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also known as the Two Sessions.
Passive observation is known as getting soy sauce. Many Chinese citizens have complained that the structure and bloated size of the National People’s Congress render most of its members powerless—there are over 3,000 members, including professional athletes, celebrities, and other non-politicians. Many proposals are supported by over 99% of the votes cast.
During the 2011 Two Sessions, netizens dubbed committee members who said yes to every proposal "soy sauce representatives" (jiàngyóu dàibiǎo 酱油代表), a term interchangeable with "soy sauce committee member." A mock news show on that year's Two Sessions describes legislators who are either absent, passive, or who "review the proposals but never inquire about popular opinion and just sit around on the toilet waiting for inspiration to come to them." Soy sauce committee members may skip meetings with the excuse that they're at the Two Sessions "mainly to meet people and learn" (以交流和学习为主).
See also Stupid Sessions.
