Most Chinese want more transparency in govt work

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-29 18:29

BEIJING -- Wang Weitao, a PhD candidate at China's University of Science and Technology, said Premier Wen Jiabao's manner as a spokesman during press conference impressed him most.

The Premier showed his sincerity, prudence and amicability while elaborating important policies and answering reporters' questions, he noted, adding that Wen had set a good example for all spokesmen.

Like Wang, many Chinese has started to pay attention to spokesmen as a survey last week shows 85.9 percent Chinese have followed spokesman at various levels with interest.

"To watch a press conference given by a spokesman is much more interesting and informative than reading regulations and watching news broadcasts," said Ke Qiang, a college junior in Hubei University.

The week-long survey, conducted by the China Youth Daily, revealed that 84.9 percent of Chinese support the system of making news known through a spokesman.

By listening to a government spokesman, people may have a deeper understanding when a new policy takes effect, according to Wang Dongfeng, an accountant in central Henan Province.

He said any newly-issued regulation would certainly affect people's lives, listening to explanations by the spokesman would help them understand the new policy better.

Zhao Zhenyu, professor of journalism at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, attributed the public's growing enthusiasm for spokesmen to the Chinese people's rising awareness of their rights to know.

The introduction of the government spokesman system was an important channel for the public to get to know what was happening in the government and a significant step to ensure citizen's right to know, he said.

China introduced the spokesman system in 1983, when the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee issued an order for the appointment of spokesmen at major government departments.

In the two decades that followed, spokesmen were used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but rarely appeared in other government departments. It took a disaster to make the government change its mind and allow spokesmen a bigger voice.

It was not until 2003, when the spread of SARS called for more a transparent method of news release, that more spokesmen were put under the spotlight.

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