The country will have a more open attitude toward the world and
ensure better services for the media in the future, the top
information official said yesterday.
China has become increasingly integrated with the world, and
that has created the need to "strengthen the relationship and
cooperation with the global community with a more open attitude",
State Council Information Office (SCIO) Minister Cai Wu said.
Speaking at a press conference, he hinted that the easing of
reporting rules for foreign journalists for the Beijing Olympic
Games could continue.
Many important events, including the Olympic Games and the 30th
anniversary of China's reform and opening up, will mark next year.
And about 30,000 foreign journalists are expected to be in Beijing
next summer for the Games alone.
Cai said his office is helping train local news officials to
better serve the media.
The training is aimed at changing the mentality of news
officials and government leaders at different levels and preparing
them to face the outside world more openly.
The office has already trained news officials from 31 provincial
capitals and municipalities, he said, and the program will be
expanded next year to include city level media officials.
The country implemented a new set of regulations on reporting in
the run-up to and during the Olympics from this year. They
stipulate that from this year to the end of the Games overseas
reporters only need an interviewee's permission to conduct an
interview.
"But no document says that when this new regulation expires on
October 17, 2008, we are going to return to previous regulations,"
Cai said, hinting at the continuation of the arrangement.
The regulations have been implemented well and yielded good
results, he said. Journalists can be assured of better services
because it will be implemented in a more comprehensive way.
"If practices show that it will help the international community
know China better, it is a good policy. Why should we change
it?"
Cai said the government news briefing mechanism has made major
progress this year, with more ministries giving regular briefings
and some local governments providing in-time and authoritative
information on emergencies.
Next year, the Ministry of National Defense will set up a
department for news briefings, too.
It will release white papers on national defense, climate
change, legal development, science and technology policies, drug
control, and conservation culture next year to convey China's
policies and standings in the fields, according to Cai.
(China Daily December 28, 2007)