Govt openness wins trust

At a meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Monday, Premier Li Keqiang once again stressed that the governments should disclose information in a timely manner. He chaired a discussion on specific ways to achieve this.

Greater openness is a necessary step to increase the credibility of governments at all levels.

A lack of transparency in public affairs results in public mistrust, as indicated by people's rush to buy foreign brands following a quality scandal involving domestic infant milk powder.

Considering any government policies and measures are usually related to the vital interests of the public, timely, accurate and full disclosure is necessary to satisfy people's right to know. Full government information disclosure can guarantee the rights of citizens, civic groups, industry associations and grassroots organizations to participate in governance and supervise governments.

Nowadays, the transparency of government affairs and the willingness of governments to voluntarily reveal to the public what they are doing is considered an indispensible part of modern governance. The State Council's effort to push for government information disclosure thus marks its fresh effort to follow the trends of the times and actively respond to people's expectations.

The government should get accustomed to making public its affairs, rather than making this an exception. Bringing government decision-making and the use of power into the sunshine will help reduce the space for irregularities and corruption. Without offering the public an open and transparent decision-making process, any efforts at self-defense in the event of an emergency will fail to gain the public's trust.

Given that making public government affairs is an important institutional guarantee for the building of a law-based government and thus rule of law, it is necessary to ensure that where there is power, there is also transparency and public supervision.