A new system is growing in a country where there has not been a
tradition of officials briefing journalists about what they are
doing.
For the last couple of years, with the help of the State Council
Information Office (SCIO), central official institutions and
provincial governments too have, one after another, set up their
spokesperson's system and begun holding press conferences.
In 2006, in particular, there have been some 1,300 meetings of
this sort, and certainly a record number in history. And there is
more to come, as promised by Cai Wu, SCIO minister, at his press
conference yesterday. More official institutions, including the
Chinese military, will soon appoint press officers.
More will be done, Cai pledged, to facilitate overseas
journalists during the national congress of the Communist Party of
China, to be held in late 2007, and the Olympic Games, the world's
largest sports event, in August 2008. And still more is likely
beyond those events, he said.
This is a good change. More information clarifies the myths
about China in the old days, such as those from the Cold War time.
It is needed now more than ever for China to act as a responsible
member of the international community and to contribute to a
harmonious world.
It is also hoped that with the growth of interaction between
officials and the press, more attention could be paid to the
balancing of some key factors:
A balance of economic and social issues: Some government
agencies seem to think the overseas press wants more business news.
While feeding information to overseas investors is admittedly
important, it is also in the interests of both the Chinese public
and journalists to have more briefings about social issues,
especially about how policies are being made, to guide the reform
of medical care, or that of the education system.
A balance of knowledge about China's realities and how it is
being talked about overseas. And in this respect, knowing how
Westerners perceive the dragon (a point of debate in China after an
academic called for the symbol to be dropped because it is
"negative" in the West) is far less important than knowing why they
value things like intellectual property rights and environmental
quality.
A balance of regular press conferences and briefings about
emergency situations, whenever they occur. Journalists would be
particularly thankful for any information when proper meetings are
hard to arrange at short notice even just a telephone call to
clarify what can and cannot be confirmed at a given time.
A balance of official press conferences and other forms of
contact with journalists. They would love to have opportunities to
attend legislative debates, talk with managers of new rural
cooperations, survey pilot reform programs and investment projects,
and even chat with officials in their homes.
(China Daily December 29, 2006)