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Sweet and sour

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-22 08:24

We do not want to be cynical. But let us not be that hilarious when touting the "achievements" in regulating government spending.

In the first six months of 2009, the number of groups and that of the people from Party and government offices who made overseas visits fell by more than 55 per cent and 53 per cent respectively, compared with the three-year average for the same period. Party and government spending on overseas trips, vehicles, and receptions came down by almost 16 billion yuan ($2.35 billion), we are told.

Not a small margin indeed. Are we ready to celebrate? Not yet.

For one, what we heard is only a routine answer to a high-profile campaign Beijing inaugurated in the beginning of the year. Each and every such campaign has to have a perfect ending. Beware how the current success is defined. "Conspicuous periodical achievements." Of course they are conspicuous. There are figures to support it. And here is the more essential adjective - periodical.

That is a precise, and scientific choice of word. We have witnessed rounds and rounds of similar initiatives, and announcements of "periodical" achievements. Before us is just another. That the same has to be said and done every once in a while reveals a truth: that few of the past campaigns or their achievements lasted really long.

So, instead of heaving a sign of relief, we feel compelled to inquire how much longer this will continue to be the case this time around. Do the current statements imply a happy ending of a six-month program? Or is there any plan to make this a constant on the authorities' agenda?

People are tired of short-lived campaigns after which everything goes back to what it was. Given the specific quotas issued by the central authorities, a campaign like this is almost unlikely to fail. But this cannot be sustained through constantly updating quotas. As is obvious to all concerned about the problem, making public Party and government offices' account books, and installing practical - by which we mean not just theoretical - public oversight over their expenses is the only way out.

All that said, we believe it will do us even more good should we bother to also look at the other side of the coin.

It took admirable resolve to launch a campaign like that, especially because it was an act of self-regulation. And the result is impressive - more than qualified for the "conspicuous periodical achievements" label.

But what do you see from behind the margin of expenditure cuts? None of the Party and government offices had trouble functioning normally with more than half of the overseas trips canceled, and a sizeable portion of their spending on vehicles and receptions cut off. If we can manage to maintain public institutions at half the cost, why should we spend twice as much? With a number of our citizens still struggling to make ends meet, it is a shame to remain onlookers when some public institutions are wasting taxpayer money.

(China Daily 09/22/2009 page5)