Officials feel naked heat

• Source: The Global Times
• [22:30 April 27 2009]
• Comments

Draft sunshine law

The earliest attempt at a relevant law first occurred in 1988, when the National People's Congress drafted a "sunshine" regulation on declaration of property and income. But that regulation never really took hold and fell into such widespread disuse that it was not even included in the 2006 Civil Service Act.

The latest attempt came from National People's Congress deputy Han Deyun, his fourth try. He even submitted a draft law to the convention. Han's is not a lone voice. Together with more than 2,000 experts, Li Chengrui, 87, former commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics plus Peking University Law School Professor Gong Xiantian, have all petitioned the Chinese government for similar legislation. Three times.

A reply of sorts finally came last year when the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress announced that declaration of property interests was in a period of "research and analysis".

Researchers and analyzers have a tricky task.

Chen Gang, a Nanjinger in his 30s, told Global Times how one of his college buddies – a district-level official in charge of real estate management – had asked to use Chen's name as official owner of an apartment, bought at bargain prices from a friendly real estate developer.

"It's not difficult for officials to transfer their property under the names of their relatives or close friends' names," commented an anonymous civil servant in a letter to the Southern Metropolis Daily. "Is there any way at all of finding out their property?"

If Altay's bold gesture has its flaws, then its supporters suggest its symbolic meaning cannot be overlooked.

"The fact that officials' properties, instead of their income, must be declared, and that officials' families are also involved in declaration of property, suggests that overall, the reform is still beneficial to the supervision of corruption and power abuse," says Bai Weichun, Party Secretary of the School of Politics and Law at Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin Province.