Editorials

Interacting with the public

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-25 07:55

In an intensive three-day session, more than 200 spokespersons from Communist Party of China (CPC) committees across the country were taught how to interact properly with the press and address topics of public concern. The curriculum included tailored workshops to teach the trainees what spokespersons are regularly expected to do: organizing press conferences, speaking with the media etc.

Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the CPC's 17th National Congress first proposed the spokesperson initiative in 2009, this was the first large-scale training program dedicated specifically to the new role in the CPC establishment. The move has been widely construed as officially kick-starting the Party's latest information-sharing mechanism, just in time for its 90th anniversary.

Thanks in part to its persistent emphasis on political and ideological work, the CPC has never lacked channels and platforms to communicate its ideas to the public. Given the Party's status in national politics, there is a legitimate public interest in information beyond its policy statements and announcements. Besides the usually abstract guiding principles found in papers and documents, people have an increasing interest in the CPC's daily operations, as well as how it perceives and intends to handle issues of major public concern.

With its special position behind the helm, the CPC has on its shoulders the obligation to account for its decisions about national and local development. That is why the CPC has been more vocal than ever about transparency. From pledges of intra-party democracy to the introduction of spokespersons, the Party is displaying conspicuous awareness of the significance of making Party affairs more transparent.

Adopting the spokesperson mechanism is a convenient way to guarantee the public's right to know. With spokespersons in place, local Party organizations will find themselves under considerable pressure if they remain silent on matters of concern.

Spokespersons are not cosmetic and used to stall off inquisitive reporters and the curious public for crisis management purposes, they are also invaluable interfaces with society.

Since the CPC claims no interests of its own except those of the people, it should have nothing to hide from society. Which makes transparency a matter of course for the Party that dictates the fundamentals of Chinese national development.

So instead of worrying about how to cope with the press, CPC spokespersons can concentrate more on constructive communication with the public. That involves not only what the Party authorities want to say, but also what the media and society at large is concerned about.

There is no better way to make the Party's fish-and-water relationship with the people true to its name.

(China Daily 02/25/2011 page8)