A Chinese personnel official on Thursday reiterated opposition
to discrimination, especially against Hepatitis B carriers, in the
upcoming civil servant test.
Vice Minister of Personnel Yang Shiqiu reassured an applicant of
the national civil servant examination in December that "Hepatitis
B carriers who are ruled out after medical examination to be
Hepatitis B patients would be considered eligible candidates."
The Chinese government issued a week ago rules to ensure fair,
transparent enrollment of civil servants. The rules ban employers
of civil servants from setting "requirements that are unrelated to
the nature of posts".
In 2005, the government issued a health standard that included
Hepatitis B carriers among eligible candidates for the civil
service and dropped out weight and height requirements.
The standard said Hepatitis B carriers were eligible to work for
the government so long as the infection did not progress to the
disease stage.
Despite this, Chinese job hunters, including those seeking
government posts, have long complained of discrimination on the
grounds of sex, age, religion, race or physical disability.
Since China began organizing civil servant recruitment
examinations in 1994, civil service has become one of the most
popular professions of the country's job seekers because it offers
a stable income, high social status and good welfare insurance.
In 2007, more than 530,000 applicants competed for 12,700
government jobs -- 42 people competing for each job on average.
This year, more than 800,000 applicants will sit for the civil
service examination in December, according to a statement on the
ministry's website.
(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2007)