Senior officials of the Communist Party and the central
government yesterday announced planned steps to make governments at
all levels more open to the public. The steps include the
promulgation of a set of regulations legalizing government
information disclosure.
This is definitely welcome news. It has been proven that a
transparent government is much more likely to be accountable, clean
and efficient than a government operating in opacity.
Increasing transparency is a crucial part of the country's
transformation because a transparent government is intrinsically
needed in a market economy, in which the government is mainly
responsible for providing public goods and services, funded by
money from taxpayers.
Considerable progress has been made in this regard in recent
years. Ministries and provincial-level bodies have all designated
spokespersons to answer queries from the press and the public, many
more press conferences are offered by government departments and
more than 80 per cent of governments at the county level or above
have set up websites.
However, much still needs to be done.
The rules concerning government information disclosure, which
are currently being drafted, should have unambiguous clauses about
the contents that should be disclosed and the method of
disclosure.
Ever-advancing information technology is providing an
increasingly effective tool for information disclosure.
But we have seen some government departments that showed an
interest in using the technology only in a superficial manner.
Among the government departments and local governments that
opened websites, many have been incredibly slow to update them,
which just serve to remind others about their inefficiency. Some
big cities have set up machines in the street for people to look up
government information, but these are rarely used.
After all, it is the contents of the disclosure and its
promptness, not empty gestures, which really count.
(China Daily September 27, 2006)