Public disclosure of information and transparency in
policymaking have improved tremendously since the new leadership
came into power in last March, and the press has played a pivotal
role in the process, says Yang Zhengquan, CPPCC member and a
retired vice minister with the State Council Information Office
(SCIO).
He adds, "People began to feel the change in late 2002, when the
16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
convened. In 2003, governments at all levels spared no effort to
improve transparency of their work while inviting public
supervision. Many government departments began holding press
conferences regularly. The press thus has more space in its daily
coverage of the government's work and decision-making
processes."
Yang, a veteran journalist who once served as the director of
China National Radio, president of China International Publishing
Group, and vice minister of the State Council Information Office,
has always paid close attention to the relations between the
government and the press. He points out, "We have seen a reformed
and more vivid type of news coverage of the government in recent
years. During the 16th CPC
National Congress in 2002 and the First
Sessions of the 10th NPC and CPPCC last year, the Chinese media
reported and recorded in detail the policymaking process. Speeches
of the Party and state leaders were timely made public. As a
result, the people's satisfaction with the government
increased."
"Government officials have been franker about issues that they
cannot solve immediately when they face the media. Now they are
using the opportunity to meet with journalists to explain their
difficulties to the citizens. It turns out that they win
better understanding from them," says Yang.
The outbreak of SARS in 2003 resulted in great improvement of
China's government news release mechanism, which was first
implemented in 1983. Almost all central government ministries and
more than a dozen provincial and municipal governments have
established a news-release mechanism.
Zhao Qizheng, minister of the State Council Information Office,
announced in last January that the SCIO is now working to set up a
three-tier government news release system to further promote
government transparency. It will feature spokespersons for the
State Council, central government ministries and provincial-level
governments. An increasing number of local governments have
followed suit.
On February 11, 2004, amid the nationwide fight against the bird
flu epidemic, the Chinese government passed a regulation that
requires government organizations to release information on
emergencies and accidents in a "timely and accurate way".
"In addition, the reports by domestic media have become more
humane. They show great concern for people's safety and their lives
and public health. SARS, AIDS and bird flu have successively made
headlines in many domestic media over the past year; and reports on
natural disasters as well as accidents have become more timely and
complete. Conditions of under-represented groups, such as migrant
workers and farmers, won much more space in media coverage over the
past year as their difficulties and feelings were made better
known. In 2003, the domestic media battled fiercely against rampant
discrimination against migrant workers in pay, education of their
children and medical care and, together with concerned government
departments, pressured many presumptuous bosses to pay delayed
wages to migrant workers before the Spring Festival of the Year of
Monkey," notes Yang.
"The main concerns of the people, such as environmental
pollution, medical care, employment, education and social security
topped media coverage over the past year," he adds.
"In 2003, the media highlighted some legal issues that are close
to people lives: the legislation of the new marriage registration
statute, the identification card law, the administrative approval
law, the legal aid regulations and the transportation law; the
abolishment of the old urban vagrancy rules, and prison reforms and
the introduction of community services for minor offenders."
"News coverage of international events has become much more
timely and in-depth. For the first time, in its international
reports China Central Television (CCTV) did live broadcasts of the
US-led war against Iraq in March 2003, enabling the Chinese
audience know more about the war," Yang recalls.
"The media has increased coverage of corruption cases and public
supervision of official affairs. Media-audience interaction
effectively influenced government's handling of the old vagrancy
rules and the punishment of the notorious gang leader Liu Yong in
Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, last
year," says Yang.
Yang believes that having begun, reform of the press will not
stop. But he also feels the route ahead might not always be
straight. "Nevertheless," he says, "the government's participation
and support will guarantee the success of the reform."
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Chen Chao, March 4, 2004)