Healthy exchange of views

For any country, people's right to know and right to participate in state affairs remain basic and important human rights. For the Communist Party of China, openness, as a precondition to efforts for democracy, is an important measurement of the modernity of the Party and the government led by it. In the pre-Internet era, people's information about Party and government affairs was mainly acquired through the spreading of written documents between lower and higher-level departments, a low-efficiency transmission method.

However, the Internet and social media have offered different and more convenient transmission alternatives for the Party and government to make public their affairs, and information can reach even remote cities and villages in an instant. At the same time, the Internet and social media can help citizens exercise their rights and enable them to participate in the administration of State affairs, as indicated by the intensive expression of views on some hot issues on the Internet, and the offering of proposals to the annual sessions of China's top legislature and top advisory body. Prior to the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, many domestic Internet portals opened areas pooling opinions and proposals on issues of public concern for the top decision-markers.

Public participation via the Internet and social media has also offered decision-makers an effective channel for promoting democratic and scientific decision-making. Although people using the Internet and social media to participate in the discussions on State or government affairs do not represent the views of every one, their opinions can reflect the views of others. As a matter of fact, in the drafting of the Property Law, Labor Law, healthcare system reforms, as well as the medium- and long-term program for education reforms, the authorities have kept an ear open to public opinions expressed through the Internet. As part of democratic decision-making, good interaction with the public through the Internet and social media is in essence equivalent to setting up a low-cost and convenient channel for the expression of public opinions.

New media have played a positive supervisory role in China's politics that traditional media cannot play. However, infringements into people's privacy are possible on the Internet, thus calling for a sound legal system and appropriate law enforcement. The opening of a corruption reporting website by the country's top anti-corruption watchdog has been widely acclaimed as huge progress in fighting corruption, but other multi-layer supervisory channels are still needed.

There can be no doubt that China needs to appropriately regulate new media. For public opinions that do not touch the political bottom line, it is reasonable for them to be guided and restrained by the country's mainstream norms and mores. However, guidance or restraint should be conducted according to the Constitution and laws when necessary. Yet this should not compromise people's right to express their opinions, and their right to monitor and participate in the administration of State affairs should be respected. This is an intrinsic requirement for the building of socialist democracy and politics in China.

The Chinese version of the article was published in Study Times.

(China Daily 12/04/2013 page8)