The right to know

Five retired workers in central China's Hunan province have taken the lead in using the country's regulations on disclosure of government information that took effect on May 1. They have sought to protect their right to know about the functioning of the government by taking their Rucheng county magistrate to court.

They believe that their local government has violated the regulations by turning down their request to make public an investigative report on the acquisition of their original State-owned enterprise by a private one.

The first-ever case of its kind has initiated a debate between governments at different levels and residents on how much the latter are entitled to know about the governing process and how much a government should inform the people of what it has done or what it intends to do.