The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China's
Central Committee intends to improve the transparency of their work
by appointing spokespersons to disseminate information a senior
Party official said yesterday.
"We have selected the candidates," Ouyang Song, deputy minister
of the department which is responsible for admitting cadres told a
press briefing organized by the State Council Information
Office.
Central and provincial government, ministries and commissions
now all have spokespersons as a result of the information office's
push for better communications. But Party organizations have not
yet adopted the practice.
The department, which releases a range of information on issues
related to the work of cadres through Xinhua News Agency, is also
considering setting up a website, Ouyang said.
"A system where a spokesperson is provided assists in enhancing
the public's trust in the authorities," said Hu Guangyun, an
associate professor with Tsinghua University's School of Public
Policy and Management.
"We don't know yet how far the Organization Department will go
with regard to the transparency but this is a very positive
gesture," Hu said.
At yesterday's news briefing, Ouyang confirmed there had been
cases of unrest with a great many farmers in rural areas because of
farmland acquisition by local governments.
But he denied these conflicts threatened social stability.
"China is the world's most stable country. It shouldn't be strange
that in a country so large, which is developing at such a pace,
that certain areas will experience incidents of unrest," he said.
He noted that the Party and government were taking measures to
solve the problem.
The Party would continue to strengthen all things related to
education and instill discipline among its members to fight
corruption and abuse of power, said Ouyang.
The build-up of grassroots organizations had become a focal
point of the Party's agenda and Ouyang confirmed that 1.75 billion
yuan (US$219 million) had recently been earmarked to build offices
in nearly 100,000 villages.
The Party admitted 2.47 million members last year from the 17.67
million who applied, said Ouyang. He said that the number of Party
members under the ageof 35, and the number of applicants were all
on the rise last year.
There were a total of 70.8 million members by the end of last
year.
(China Daily March 2, 2006)