Student sues to force disclosure

A college student in Hubei Province, who was rebuffed and ignored by two government departments when he applied for disclosure of a Shaanxi provincial official's salary, is launching a lawsuit against the departments.

Liu Yanfeng, a sophomore in the Yichang-based Three Gorges University, says the Shaanxi department of finance and the Shaanxi Administration of Work Safety violated government information disclosure regulations when they refused to provide details on the salary of Yang Dacai, who is suspected of corruption and was sacked last week.

"After consulting lawyers, I decided to take legal action rather than file an appeal," Liu told the Global Times.

Liu filed an application for disclosure with the two provincial bodies on September 1. The finance department replied on September 20 with a rejection saying such a request was outside the scope of the information disclosure regulations. The administration has not yet replied to Liu's request.

Zhang Maichang, Liu's attorney, told the Global Times that Liu's suit is a good example of public supervision of the government, but he's not that hopeful it will produce the desired result.

"Considering previous experience, I'm not that optimistic but efforts to push for information disclosure are necessary," said Zhang.

Liu applied for information on the earnings of Yang, former head of Shaanxi work safety administration, after netizens posted pictures of Yang wearing wrist watches that cost tens of thousands of yuan. He first came to public attention when he was photographed smiling at the scene of a bus accident that claimed the lives of 36 people.

"I am encouraged by Web users, and I am not alone in the fight for more transparent government information," said Liu.