 On December 31, 2008, the local government of Xinjiang's Altay region publicized the property declaration form of 55 newly appointed county-level officials through one of its local websites. The information could be read by the public freely. A secret property declaration was also implemented. The latest reform evoked heated discussion.
Media has different points to express.
An article in the "Oriental Morning Post" comments that the property reporting system in Xinjiang Altay region takes in form of both public and secret declarations at the same time. There is still a large gap compared to the transparent property reporting system adopted by many foreign countries. However, the reform is extremely sensitive, since it has touched the interests of different groups. In order to avoid failure, it's understandable that it has to go step by step.
A review in the "Beijing Youth Daily" says that the property declaration system has two elements, declaration and transparency, both of which are shown in this reform. This is the first time the official property declaration system has been introduced. However, the declaration supervision mechanism remains to be further improved.
While hailing the practice as a good way to fight against corruption, a commentary from the "Xinhua Net" points out two problems. The author says that it has spent more than half a year to finally put the reform into practice, which might provide enough time for corrupt officials to get ready for inspection. Secondly, there is a lack of public participation, as the secret declaration part is not fully open to the public. The author hopes the declaration system will be improved soon.
|