A government of the people and for the people should listen to
the people, and share their weal and woes.
That is what the Communist Party of China's (CPC) mass line is
about, and why correspondence and visitation departments were
created at all levels of governments.
The CPC Central Committee's and the State Council's latest
initiative to improve the performance of such establishments will
prove to be a worthy public relations offensive for the Party and
the government.
It is good to hear them say the work of the correspondence and
visitation departments is of groundbreaking significance for
societal harmony. It indeed is.
In spite of their frequent inspection trips across the country,
high-ranking officials have little chance to see and hear the truth
on those well-guarded and guided tours.
Correspondence and visitation departments, charged to handle
public complaints lodged via letters and visits, are in the best
position to know the problems of real people in the real world.
It is a pity that such wonderful sources of information have not
received the degree of attention they deserve, or considered
negatively. Higher authorities are upset that they are overwhelmed
by disputes that should have been resolved at grassroots levels;
local officials are angry that people take their complaints
directly to higher levels, or even directly to Beijing.
So in addition to cold shoulders by higher authorities, those
who lodge complaints usually have to play hide-and-seek with local
officials who do whatever they can to nullify the efforts such
"troublemakers."
The preference to having problems solved at the grassroots is
still there in the joint decision of the CPC and the central
government. That is the best possible scenario all complaint
lodgers can expect. People would not have to risk enraging local
officials and traveling long distances to have their complaints
heard, as long as there is such possibility.
The real progress lies in the promise to "resolutely correct the
mistaken practices of restraining and interfering in people's
normal correspondence and visitation activities, and guarantee that
the channels of correspondence and visitation are clear of
obstructions".
People brave various barriers and pressures to voice their
difficulties to higher authorities. They share the faith that there
will be a place where justice can be done.
That faith is important for all parties.
(China Daily June 27, 2007)