Happiness became a new term of discussion during the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. As NPC deputy Cheng Jing said, people will be happy only if they have a sense of security. Only if a country is prosperous, strong and socially stable can its people feel safe and happy. What Cheng meant to say is that people cannot be happy if their country is not stable, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

For the past three decades, Chinese authorities from the central to the local levels have succeeded in maintaining social and political stability. Irrespective of the passage of time and change in people's views, stability has been the cornerstone of China's development, which has been strengthening the social welfare structure.

Deng Xiaoping's emphasis on social stability is still relevant as China moves forward on the road of modernization, reform and opening-up. Three decades of reform and opening-up have helped China achieve an unprecedented average economic growth rate of 10 percent a year, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and improved the life of hundreds of millions of others.

Turmoil leads a country toward disaster and creates hurdles in the life of its people.

The "cultural revolution" (1966-76) retarded economic development and created shortages of goods and services.

From the end of last year, political unrest in some North African and Middle Eastern countries has caused economic setbacks. That has hurt people's livelihoods in those countries. Libya, one of the countries in North Africa caught in the web of unrest, in the throes of a deeper crisis and thanks to Western powers, could even face a war. We sympathize with the people suffering in these countries.

But the suffering of people in these countries should come as a warning to peace lovers across the world, including China.

History gives us an idea of the seemingly familiar topic of stability. Sometimes people can understand the world only in comparison with the changes taking place. The people, all of about 36,000 Chinese citizens, who have returned from the uncertainties of Libya to China, can better understand what safety and stability in China means.

Besides, the recent mad-rush among people to buy (iodized) salt as protection against nuclear radiation from the earthquake-tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan should remind Chinese people about the importance of social stability and rationality.

A stable country is akin to a stable family, which signifies harmony and camaraderie among all. As CPPCC National Committee member Ye Xiaowen said, harmony and stability are just like air. We may not know its there, but we realize its importance as soon as it becomes thin.

Stability is as important for a family as it is for a country. Without stability, a society can never be happy. Hence, we should value the stability and harmony that Chinese society enjoys today.

Moreover, we should appreciate the improvement in people's livelihoods made possible because of the country's economic development.