Don't talk to the public with hands behind your back, don't ask others to carry the suitcase for you, never smoke or pick your teeth in public …These constitute a list of "10 forbidden behaviors" that Pengshan county of Southwest China's Sichuan Province issued to officials recently, a local newspaper reported Friday.

The news, however, triggered a flurry of ridicule on social media. Some netizens question why officials need to be taught such things as these are basic civil manners while others say the rules reflect the repulsive common practices of officials. Officials, long held as the public's food provider, had enjoyed privileged status. Instead of demonstrating close relations with the public, officials seemingly believed that they had to display a certain supremacy.

Officials, who used to behave in a superior way, have kept themselves farther and farther away from the public. Days ago, the Communist Party chief of a small county in Sichuan reportedly cleaned the street to get closer to the public, while later it turned out he apparently was making a show.

Thanks to the popularity of social media in China, the behavior of officials can easily come under the spotlight now and be scrutinized by the public who make high demands of them. In recent years, news such as local leaderships trying to serve the people or riding a bicycle to work instead of using government vehicles have been lambasted by the public who believe they are just putting on a show. And no wonder the newly issued "10 forbidden behaviors" are viewed by netizens as nothing more than empty talk.

This is why after Xi Jinping took over as General-Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in November 2012, he initiated a "mass line" campaign to boost ties between officials and ordinary people and to overhaul the image of officials. Some experts have noted that Pengshan's new regulations are an extension of Xi's push for clean governance that is a serious, not a one-off, effort.

Besides establishing a system to restrain officials' power within "the cage of regulations" from top down as Xi has vowed to do, officials should have the awareness of behaving themselves better. Once officials are found to be puffed up with bureaucracy, they themselves will have to pay the political costs and the already-vulnerable relationship between the public and officials will further deteriorate.  

Whether Pengshan's move will mend officials' image in the eyes of the public remains an open question, but at least it knows where to start.