The name of Wang Guoqiang, secretary of Fengcheng Municipal Committee of the CPC in Liaoning Province, has vanished from the city's official website. Some media reported that Wang fled abroad with a large sum of money. But the media reports seem to be hearsay and officials haven't confirmed the stories yet.

Because all the officials have kept silent over the issue, nobody can tell whether the news is true or not, including claims that Wang was a "naked official," staying behind in the country with his family abroad, that his relatives have moved to the US, and that the amount of money he allegedly embezzled reached 200 million yuan ($31.5 million).

Why didn't officials take the initiative to publish the news about Wang but instead allowed rumors to spread and let the issue be exposed by the media? Wang's flight is certainly a scandal. It would be good for the officials if such a scandal could be hidden, but that's hardly realistic.

Only when the public gets to know the truth about a scandal involving officials through normal means can the damage it causes be limited to the minimum.

We call for the Liaoning authorities to inform the public about the Wang issue. They can publish what they know so as to stop speculation on the Internet.

Information disclosure in China has moved much further than in the late 1990s. No matter how bad the news is, it will reach the public sooner or later.

Some officials will try every means to cover up a piece of bad news for the sake of their own interests or their colleagues. But such acts shouldn't be encouraged. Handling scandals properly is the only way to minimize the damage they cause to the image of the government.

Most Chinese people have a clear mind. They know there are corrupt officials in the country, but they also see the efforts by honest officials and see the improvement of the country.

A single piece of news, no matter how bad it is, will not overthrow China nowadays. Mass protests incidents happened in Shifang and Qidong in July, but the country had the ability to handle them. Chinese officials should have the courage to take the initiative to admit these scandals and deal with them. After the whole issue is exposed, there will be a lot of opinions about them, which will awe those involved, so that the possibility of similar cases would drop.

Information transparency in China won't come overnight. But it's undeniable that China will become more and more transparent. Although disclosing bad news may bring officials trouble at first, it is actually opening up a smooth road in the future. Simply covering things up only adds risks.

The article is an editorial published in the Chinese edition of the Global Times Tuesday. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn