Domestic media are filled with coverage of President Hu Jintao's
latest call for Communist Party of China and government officials
to dedicate themselves to the public welfare, to be thrifty and
alert to challenges.
Like everyone worried about the way public affairs are managed
in this country, we share his and society's grim concern about
problems in our public service.
Strong economic growth over the decades has brewed a propensity
to overestimate our strength. Dazzled by the ballooning size of our
economy and ignoring essential concerns, some officials mistake our
growth potential for real might.
Fatter State coffers and overblown optimism have not only added
fuel to officials' obsession with grandeur but also prepared the
ideological and material grounds for wastefulness.
Local governments having difficulty making ends meet build
luxurious office buildings and buy expensive cars; officials living
on State poverty-relief funds trot the globe like millionaires,
wining and dining as if there were an endless supply of wealth.
We have heard plenty about this. We know these supposed public
servants' proclaimed commitment to the public good is anything but
sincere.
Everybody seems to have seen the excesses. And everybody appears
aware of the need for change. The problem is how to bring about
change.
It would be praiseworthy if all public servants heeded the
leadership's passionate appeals and truly served the public, not
just themselves. But there is no guarantee they will.
The only sensible approach is to make sure they fulfil their
public trust. Making rules for officials' self-discipline is not
enough. We already have piles of documents.
It is more reliable to resort to public oversight. We do not
lack rhetoric on this. We need practical moves to facilitate public
involvement.
One way to rein in waste of public money is to enhance public
scrutiny of government budgets. Experts put forward a sensible
proposal for the National People's Congress to allow more time for
lawmakers to study and debate the government's budget reports at
their annual sessions.
It is worth serious deliberation if we truly want the kind of
changes we are talking about.
The government's spending plans should be a core topic at all
levels of People's Congresses, given their overwhelming weight in
public administration.
(China Daily March 22, 2007)