A diplomatic news story released through Xinhua's Chinese
service earlier this month caught the eye of many China watchers as
the source, the Ministry of National Defence information office,
was appearing in public for the first time.
The advent of the ministry's information office provided an
indication that the once "secrecy-shrouded" Chinese military could
be opening wider to the outside world in future. It also marked a
new chapter in the country's news briefing system.
At present, nearly all departments of the Communist Party of
China (CPC), State Council ministries and provincial-level
governments have established a spokesperson system. Last year, the
CPC's "mysterious" discipline watchdog, the Central Committee for
Discipline Inspection, opened for the first time to foreign and
domestic journalists.
The improvement should be attributed to the accelerated efforts
the government has made since the 2003 SARS outbreak toward greater
information flow. Because of these efforts, more changes can be
expected. Starting on May 1, a regulation on government information
openness will come into effect. This will require governments at
various levels to release information that "affects the immediate
interests of individuals and groups" or that "should be known by
the masses" within 20 working days.
It requires governments to release to the public details of how
individual departments plan to deal with emergencies, government
spending, specific fees for public services and results of
investigations into environmental protection, public health and
food and drugs safety, among others.
"In case the government fails to carry out its obligations
defined by this regulation, officials responsible should be
punished if the violations are serious," it said.
As officials are told to release governmental information in a
timely manner, foreign journalists working in China can now enjoy
greater long-term journalistic conveniences in the country.
The regulations on reporting activities in China by foreign
journalists during the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games and the
preparatory period, became effective in 2007. It said foreign
journalists would not necessarily have to be accompanied or
assisted by a Chinese official when they reported in the country.
They also no longer needed to apply to provincial foreign affairs
offices for permission to report in all the country's provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities.
Cai Wu, State Council Information Office minister, recently said
there was no document stating that when this new regulation expires
on Oct. 17 the country would return to the previous conditions.
"If practices show that it will help the international community
know better about China, it is a good policy in accordance with the
country's reform and opening up. Why is it necessary for us to
change it?" he said. Heavy Workload, No "Occupation Risks"
With the institutional evolution, individual spokespersons are
also scrambling to become more competent and recognized.
Wang Xuming, Ministry of Education spokesman, said "competent
spokespersons shall be good at expressing themselves and
communicating with others. They should be talented and well
trained".
Wang, who himself once worked in media, proposed selecting
government spokespersons from journalists who have enough knowledge
on governmental operation.
He called for more people to become involved in the profession,
pointing out the Ministry of Education information office only had
four staff, despite the public's enormous attention to education.
The workload for the office was thus really heavy
When asked if China's spokespersons faced "occupational risk",
Cai said no such case had occurred where the spokesperson was
blamed or punished for "making wrong or inappropriate remarks".
But he admitted spokespersons could do their jobs better.
"Nowadays, most spokespersons are part-time, they concurrently do
other jobs in their governmental departments. In future, they
should be full-time spokespersons."
In addition, while the spokespersons are very familiar with
government operations and have a good understanding about various
policies, most lacked journalistic knowledge and training. Some
were still not good at communicating with journalists, he said.
The State Council Information Office is currently providing
training courses to spokespersons from ministries and local
governments, Cai said.
"With the coming of the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese
governments will be more open to the media and the world," he said
recently.
(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2008)