quarta-feira, 30 de junho de 2010

CPC Spokespersons Make Group Debut

Spokespersons from 11 departments of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made an unprecedented group debut Wednesday in front of media from both within China and abroad.

The group debut was staged one day ahead of the 89th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, which now has nearly 80 million members.

"The CPC Central Committee has paid special attention to disclosing information about Party affairs," said Wang Chen, director of the International Communication Office of the CPC Central Committee, at the press conference.

The 11 spokespersons, nine men and two women, represent the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), as well as the CPC Central Committee's Organization Department, Publicity Department, United Front Work Department, International Department, Taiwan Work Office, International Communication Office, Party School, Party Literature Research Center, Party History Research Office and Central Archives Department.

Wang said publicizing Party affairs information has been a major focus of the work of the CPC in recent years.

The CPC central committee first explicitly proposed setting up the spokesperson system in a decision endorsed by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee held in September 2009, he said.

"(The spokesperson system) is key to making Party affairs public, promoting intra-party democracy, improving the party's governance capability, and to cultivating a favorable environment for the development of the CPC and China," Wang said.

He added that the International Communication Office was currently working with other CPC departments to further perfect the spokesperson system in order to disclose party affairs in a timely manner, and further enhance the transparency of party affairs.

In the 70-minute press conference broadcast live on the China Central Television (CCTV), the 11 spokespersons each vowed to enhance news reporting and boost transparency.

They also answered a variety of questions ranging from the CPC's exchanges with parties in other countries to the CCDI's recent anti-graft drive in China's construction industry.

Noting that the International Communication Office would continue to host such press conferences in the future, the office's spokesman, Guo Weimin, said that a number of provincial-level and municipal party committees, and their subordinate departments, had also named their own spokespersons.

"The International Communication Office will work with them next in order to release relevant information in an improved manner," he said.

Meanwhile, Luo Zongyi, spokesman of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said the Party School had also invited a group of reporters from both home and abroad to visit the school Wednesday afternoon.

The group debut of the spokespersons was seen by Yin Yungong, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' journalism and communication research institute, as a sign of the party's growing confidence and maturity.

"It shows the CPC is taking an open stance as a ruling party," Yin said.

Ye Duchu, a professor with the CPC Central Committee Party School noted that each of the spokespersons of the 11 CPC departments held considerably high-ranking positions and were all experienced veterans in their respective fields.

"Their authority and familiarity with their work make them able to disclose information more accurately, unlike some officials who had to resort to empty talk and rhetoric," Ye said.

He added that the 11 CPC departments had created a good example for their subordinates during Wednesday's press conference.

Meanwhile, Wu Jiang, dean of the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science, hailed the establishment of a spokesperson system in the CPC departments as a "sound channel and platform to protect the public's rights to know, to participate, to express and to supervise," he said.

Wu said only when people's rights to know were protected could the Party get timely feedback on their policies.

"Therefore, the spokesperson system will help promote scientific and democratic decision-making," he said.