Transparency took another step forward in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, recently, when the government took the bold initiative to publish the names and contact details of all leading city officials in a local newspaper. The February 16 issue of Kunming Daily listed phone numbers of the officials, including city mayors and district heads, along with descriptions of their job responsibilities in a four-page spread. The newspapers were sold out immediately with public demand forcing a reprint.

Kunming's proactive move in accepting public scrutiny and open governance was hailed by the media as an innovative and positive way of advancing democracy. Most supporters believe that transparency in the corridors of power demands not only an effective supervisory mechanism, but also cooperation on the part of government. Kunming's initiative will allow ordinary residents to be heard, and could be an effective channel for governments of higher level to keep an eye on local officials.

Others argued that residents are already able to get these numbers through telephone inquiries, and this list may lower government efficiency because of a flood of calls resulting from it. Simply publicizing the contacts of officials is far from enough to improve government transparency, they say, as it needs the joint efforts of the community, civic leaders and government departments.

The Kunming local government later issued a circular to facilitate the process, saying that between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. calls will be answered and problems dealt with. Officials, who are indifferent, slow to respond to calls for help, or who keep poor complaint records, will be punished, says the government.

These records include callers' names, numbers, working units and nature of the problems and should be immediately addressed if possible, or be transferred to relevant departments for settlement. Callers are also asked to take the name of the official who answers the phone and any follow-up information for future reference.

Transparent governance

Yang Gengshen (Yanzhao Metropolis Daily): Government officials are installed in their posts to serve the people and thus subject to public scrutiny. The alleged negative impacts as a result of published phone numbers are baseless. The demand for Kunming Daily on February 16 indicates there is the need for active government-people interactions.

The phone list provides an avenue for communication. In the past, there are few mechanisms that provide regular interactive exchanges between officials and ordinary residents on an equal basis.

The power invested in the government is given by the public, and should be subject to supervision, inquiry and condemnation if needed.

Superficially, residents can expect lawmakers at the people's congresses of various levels and the media to oversee the administrative power on their behalf. But the ineffective supervision actually has failed the public repeatedly. Worse still, some government agencies, which wrongly position themselves as rulers of the people, turn a deaf ear to complaints from society.

Given this, the telephone numbers with direct access to top officials certainly will give the common people a channel to be heard.

Smooth interactions between officials and the broad public are cornerstones for the establishment of political democracy. The published telephone list may not be able to fulfill all public expectations on transparent governance, but it marks a significant step forward to curb excessive bureaucracy and improve governance efficiency.

Cai Fanghua (Beijing Youth Daily): Officials' business phone numbers are no secret today. In reality, however, it is hard to find the numbers of senior officials. The Kunming government's initiative, which is designed to reform conventional governance operations, is worthy of praise whether it is effective or not.

Pressured by China's increased reform in this area, direct contacts with officials provide civilians with an effective way of cutting down on tedious bureaucracy.

Mei Yu (www.china.com.cn): Modern governance is devised to offer taxpayers convenient but efficient services. The phone list can save people much time and energy wasted in searching for officials' information.

As a matter of fact, Kunming is not alone in seeking better public supervision. Xianyang City, an ancient town neighboring Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province, has previously posted both office and mobile phone numbers of officials on the local government's official website. The experiment showed that residents usually raise proposals on government affairs and express complaints through sending text messages to officials. The fear of an avalanche of phone calls from the public proved unfounded.

Phone lists not the answer

Deng Shangming (www.xinhuanet.com): Kunming is not the first to launch the call-and-complain initiative, but could be the largest in impact and scale. Although the government has good intentions to get closer to and listen to the vast majority, the process may disturb government operations and decision-making procedures.

Direct contact might break bureaucratic barriers, but at the expense of using up the time of top officials. This is very likely to eventually degrade government performance. For example, since police and market regulatory departments deal with affairs that affect almost every aspect of people's everyday life, the top officials of these departments would find no time to perform other duties except answering a sea of complaints.

The Kunming initiative aimed at stepping up governance reform is challenging the current administrative system, in which responsibilities and duties of governments of different levels and its subordinate sectors are explicitly stipulated.

Guo Weiqing (Nanfang Daily City News): Having blind faith that top officials can easily solve problems is totally wrong. The government mechanism is devised for public convenience, rather than officials'. It can be more efficient to consult the right department that is in charge of the matter than to contact senior officials.

Experience of industrialized nations shows that people need specific guidelines on whom to call and what procedures to follow, rather than a general name list of officials. A more structured service is human-oriented in the real sense.

It is expected that more improvements in the government's work style and attitude will be seen. Strong complaints from the public on the lack of information sources illustrate this point. A simple list of telephone numbers cannot be the base of government accountability. It requires more reforms in the present lawmaking and advisory bodies to fully represent the public, supervise the government and discuss the policies. The way toward open governance in fact is still a long way off.

Zhang Jingyi (www.china.com.cn): The publicized phone number list is not omnipotent in streamlining government operations.

Since mayor's hotlines, which are opened to receive public suggestions and complaints, have been in place in many regions for quite some time, do we really need to publicize more contact details?

If top officials are obliged to directly oversee their subordinates, will the supervisory departments within the administrative system be idle?

The thorough implementation of "governing for the people" relies on both institutional guarantees and raised responsibility awareness of officials. One complaining call cannot fundamentally change anything.

Chen Yizhou (Yanzhao Metropolis Daily): The rapidly developing information technology has helped spread access and influence of the public supervision in China. The process to exercise the power of authorities is unprecedentedly transparent in the country. More and more state organs are willing to receive open supervision. Kunming's initiative is one such example.

But the effects of such an initiative should not be overestimated, because the effect of supervision from the higher level is often temporary.

Realization of political democracy is a gradual process based on a foundation of respect for individual rights. Kunming's phone list would be powerless unless there is corresponding progress in the performance assessment system for officials.

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