The central government should try a new channel for public
supervision by opening Internet blogs to directly hear and solicit
grassroots proposals and opinions, a Chinese political advisor
suggested on Tuesday.
As the Internet offers an interactive, democratic medium for
expression of ideas, a government blog can serve as an easily
accessible platform where the public's appeals and opinions can
reach authorities directly, and thus the central government should
try the new approach in its drive to build social harmony, said Mao
Yulin, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, the country's top advisory
body.
Via the blog, the government can seek suggestions on the issues
that the public are most interested in and concerned with, said
Mao, adding public opinions can inspire solution-seeking officials
and thus help boost the country's reform.
Free expression of public opinions on the blog can also help the
central authorities spot discipline violations and corruption, Mao
said.
There should be a full-time administrator of the government blog
who is supposed to closely watch and pack up messages from
netizens, she said.
Mao suggested the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China, the National People's Congress, or the country's top
legislature, and the CPPCC National Committee also launch similar
blogs.
Noting the Internet is becoming a new approach to grassroots
democracy, Mao said the government blog can help promote the
country's democratic construction as long as it is well
managed.
China had 137 million Internet users at the end of 2006, among
whom 20.8 million were bloggers, according to a latest Internet
survey.
(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2007)