Public has right to know size of official incomes

Yang Dacai, an official from Shaanxi Province who was caught smiling at a deadly bus crash scene and was later discovered by netizens to own various luxury watches, was removed from his post Friday for serious disciplinary violations.

This is another victory for anti-corruption efforts online. However, Yang's income remains a mystery despite public requests for it to be disclosed.

According to the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Disclosure of Government Information, government information refers to information that administrative organs make or acquire while fulfilling their responsibilities and keep records of.

Officials' income falls into this category. Though the Regulation does not clearly lists officials' income as information that administrative offices should actively publish, citizens can request information from government departments. Officials' income comes from public finance and is covered by taxpayers. It is not a matter of personal privacy, but information that citizens have the right to know.

Many foreign countries, based on this principle, publish the incomes of government officials, civil servants and staff at public schools. The Shaanxi Administration of Work Safety should have published Yang Dacai's income after it was formally requested. And if this local bureau does not think this is information that can be published, it should explain the reasons to the applicant.

The incident is related to a more important question: How should the government deal with public doubts in the era of social media?

Thanks to the emergence of social networking sites like Weibo, the public has become producers and consumers of information, rather than passive receivers.

However, some local government departments are still used to governing in a closed environment and talking down to the public. They think responding to requests is a favor they do for the public. They often do not or feel reluctant to respond. Some respond with an arrogant or rude tone, whereas others seek to block public questioning.

We hope the recent series of anti-corruption cases like Yang Dacai's luxury watch scandal could give a serious warning to officials.

Facing public doubts, the government can only respond positively. Otherwise the relationship between officials and the public will continue to worsen, which ultimately undermines the government's capabilities.