Enhancing Transparency

By Yin Pumin

In an effort to improve military transparency， the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army （PLA） and the Chinese Peoples Armed Police Force （CPAPF） appointed spokespersons for various services on November 20.

The eight official spokespersons were named by the Central Military Commission to represent the PLAs General Political， General Logistics and General Armament departments， as well as the PLA Navy， Air Force， Second Artillery Force and the CPAPF.

They are expected to release information on important activities organized by their respective services to the international community and to respond to both public concerns and questions from the media， according to a statement of the Central Military Commission.

Other major units within the military are also likely to appoint spokespersons in the future， which will help develop the spokesperson system further， the PLA Daily， flagship newspaper of Chinas military， reported on November 22.

Li Jie， a senior expert at the Naval Military Studies Research Institute of the PLA， said that a spokesperson system is a necessity for the Chinese armed forces. “It has the ability to improve military transparency and help gain more trust from the international community，” he said.

The move came amid recent efforts by China to advance its spokesperson system.

On October 15， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， issued guidelines that require government agencies to enhance transparency by releasing information in a timely， comprehensive and accurate manner.

Cai Mingzhao， Minister of the State Council Information Office （SCIO）， said at a media briefing on October 16 that the time has come to formulate and enforce detailed regulations for the spokesperson system， including entry tests for applicants.

Long process

In 1983， the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially launched a spokesperson system， the first of its kind in China， opening up an information channel to the public. Meanwhile， a small number of spokespersons for other ministries were also introduced to the media that year.

In the following 20 years， however， those spokespersons only appeared at diplomatic or important political events， as most government departments lacked a regular system for releasing news.

In 2003， the sudden outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome （SARS） and its aftermath made Chinese leaders realize the importance of releasing information on government affairs and increasing administrative transparency， a task that requires a comprehensive news release system with professionally trained spokespersons.

Mao Qunan experienced the dramatic change of Chinas spokesperson system in 2003 as the first emergency spokesman appointed by the then Ministry of Health， now the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

During the early stages of the SARS outbreak， which claimed 349 lives on the Chinese mainland and left many survivors with lifelong ailments， health authorities came under fire for the slow release of information and a lack of transparency. The criticism led to Mao quickly being appointed as spokesman. From April to June 2003， the Ministry of Health issued the latest information about the pandemic at 4 p.m. every day.

“The SARS outbreak prompted the Chinese Government to adopt a more open attitude toward media coverage of major crises and emergencies，” Mao said.

After the crisis， China initiated a special training program for spokespersons. The first intake in September of that year involved 100 spokespersons from 66 central government departments， with the second one in November trained another 80 from provincial-level governments. During the following decade， the program was expanded to include more spokespersons at the local level.

In 2004， a list of 75 spokespersons from 62 departments of the State Council was released to the public， along with phone numbers for their relevant government offices.

The Ministry of National Defense established its Information Office in 2008 to provide information on the countrys national defense and military affairs to the domestic and international media.

In June 2010， 11 Party departments， including the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection， also established a spokesperson system.

According to official statistics， over the past 10 years， more than 540 officials were appointed as spokespersons for central- and provinciallevel governments.

In October， the State Council announced that its Information Office is to organize regular media briefings to address public concerns over important policies and pressing issues. Heads of central government departments tasked with overseeing macroeconomic development and peoples livelihoods are required to attend media briefings at least once a year， while departmental spokespersons must attend briefings once every quarter， as stipulated by the State Council guidelines.

“This is an important step toward rigid formalization of the spokesperson system，” said SCIO Minister Cai.

“When SARS wreaked havoc in China a decade ago， we were criticized by the public due to the slow release of information， but when the lethal H7N9 bird flu virus broke out earlier this year， health authorities won the trust of the public through the timely release of information，” Mao said.

Emergencies and disasters were the catalysts that helped Chinas spokespersons understand how to communicate with the media and the public， according to Mao. “The guiding principle for the release of government information can be boiled down to just one word： transparency，” he commented.

Lagging behind

Wang Xuming， a spokesman for the Ministry of Education from 2003 to 2008， was well known in media circles for his outspoken， individual approach to his work.

“More governmental bodies have spokespersons now， but there are also many‘unspoken spokespersons those who make a virtue of saying nothing，” Wang said. “Most spokespersons are like robots， reading a prepared statement with no distinctive personal style at all.”

Almost three months after the end of the daily SARS briefings， both Mao and Wang attended the training courses for government spokespersons. Their lecturers included communications experts and senior reporters from China and overseas.

However， 19 of the trainees have never spoken to the media since， according to The Beijing News.

In the wake of work safety accidents or natural disasters， some government officials have been accused of being unwilling to face reporters， either because they are afraid of making a mistake or because they are unable to deal with journalists， according to Guo Weimin， Director of the SCIOs Press Bureau.

Liu Xiaoying， a professor of media research at the Beijing-based Communication University of China， said that most officials deem it risky to be outspoken， and as a result， few spokespersons prefer to face the media when they can avoid it.

“Most government officials still believe that‘careless talk costs lives， so to speak. Keeping silent is negative， but at least its safer than talking and getting the facts wrong，” said Liu， who was once invited to help train official spokespersons by the SCIO.

Other major hurdles for spokespersons to overcome are inexperience and insufficient knowledge of a subject. Unlike their Western counterparts， most of whom have a background in journalism， the majority of Chinese spokespersons started their careers as bureaucrats. As such， its harder for them to think from a media perspective and they usually only put forward defenses of government actions and policies， said Shi Anbin， Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijingbased Tsinghua University.

Shi was one of the lecturers at the 2003 training courses for government spokespersons. According to him， during the past decade the scope of those attending his media training program has widened from spokespersons working for central government departments， to those in local departments， and， more recently， a number of leading officials. In the last 10 years he has trained more than 10，000 people.

Shi noted that while an ability to deal with the media is a basic qualification for politicians in the West， many Chinese officials still have limited knowledge and experience.

“Some attendees have been mayors for 20 years， but have never talked on TV—that would be unimaginable in the United States，” Shi said.

The professional immaturity of Chinese spokespersons was highlighted and magnified in the aftermath of the Wenzhou rail accident in east Chinas Zhejiang Province in July 2011， when two high-speed trains collided， claiming 40 lives and injuring nearly 200 people.

Wang Yongping， then spokesman for the Ministry of Railways， revealed to reporters that the front portion of one of the trains had been buried shortly after the incident. He then went on to explain that this was in an effort to ease conditions for rescue workers， defending against accusations that there were other motives by telling reporters， “Whether you believe it or not， I believe it.”

Wang was promptly dismissed from his post after his statement triggered public backlash due to being seen as insensitive and deliberately opaque. Some insiders expressed sympathy for Wang， claiming that he didnt have enough information when he was ordered to face the media.

“Wangs case should provide an opportunity to push for greater reform of the current spokesperson system， which is flawed and has many systemic problems，” said Wu Heping， a former spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security.

Since few government bodies have departments that are able to analyze public opinion， many ministries and commissions are unable to respond effectively to public criticism and questions， Wu added.

“People only see the performance of the individual spokesperson， but not the system behind us，” Mao said. “This has to do with everyone in the organization； if the spokesperson doesnt have all the information， he or she has to collect it from various departments. But what happens if the spokesperson pushes for answers， but other people dont respond？”

Cheng Manli， a professor of journalism at Peking University， called for a new law to prompt the release of government information. Under the existing mechanism， there are no measures that force government departments to issue news releases， and the timing of a release is usually decided by officials rather than in accordance with the law， she said.