Note: This is a translation of an editorial which first appeared in Southern Weekly on August 6.  The original can be found here.

“F-ck information disclosure”
By Guo Guangdong (郭光东)
 
 
The great cross-talk performer Hou Baolin has a familiar skit: a man listens to the silence in the middle of the night and asks who’s there and what he’s doing.   He uses a Henan dialect to express words such as “Who?” “Me!” “Why?” “I gotta piss!”  These days this kind of expression is used in trying to gain disclosure of government information.  A young man from Nanyang, Henan named Wang Qing has made his application to the local government but the official who handled it had some choice words for him: “F-ck information disclosure!” he said. 
 
To date “f-ck information disclosure” is probably the clearest, most concise, direct, and ballsy example of the government’s state of embarrassment towards information disclosure.  Wang Qing’s experience is just one example of this state.  He relied on the “Government Open Information Regulations” to apply to 181 government offices to release information on public use of funds for entertainment, public transportation expenses and funds used for international travel.  He conducted a review, filed a law suit, and lodged complaints. He used every trick in the book.  The ultimate answer finally came seven months later and lacked any substantive content.
 
People like Wang Qing have been inspired by the great fanfare of the 2008 Government Open Information Regulations, and have become thorns in the sides of government officials everywhere.  Beijing lawyer Yang Huiwen made an artful attempt at information disclosure in April of this year.  He applied to 73 departments to find out how money is being spent, only two of which gave clear answers.

The funny part is that, even though Wang Qing felt that as a taxpayer he had the right to know how the government spends its money, after he made his application he was suspected of being a spy.  It seems as if some officials are playing the “spy card” for the time being to exploit the tension.  They are using this kind of language indiscriminately, but from a certain perspective they are absolutely right.  Wang Qing is working as a spy on behalf of the people of Nanyang.  What is also laughable is that Wang Qing is a terrible undercover agent.  He obstinately demands his “enemy” disclose secrets using the Government Open Information Regulations.  Compared with other recent cases of officials spending public money for international travel and massages which have come to light through the Internet, Wang Qing’s methods are amateurish.  One can only say he is probably the stupidest “spy” in history.
 
Without a doubt, “performing artists” like Wang Qing and Yang Huiwen have been artistically inspired by the Government Open Information Regulations. But its crudeness has sealed the tragic fate of those who rely on it for actually obtaining information.  There are only 38 rules.  Not only are they terribly principled and general in the list of information that should be made public, but they are also terribly impotent in meting out punishment for not disclosing information.  Therefore, what can seemingly be made public is consistently rejected by government departments saying there is no basis for it to be made so.  And what is not disclosed seems to decided according to the rules, but this is consistently not the case.  The behavior of these performance artists is certainly intended to prompt officials to act within established limits and use the proper procedures.  Their artistic contribution was wading through all the red tape but when emotions started to run high, it was difficult to avoid the tongue lashing of “f-ck information disclosure!”

This once again proves the old adage that there are no rights where there is no relief [无救济则无权利].  Rights must be accompanied by corresponding procedures and the assurance of punishment.  In the face of the reality of such stone cold law enforcement,  [Deng Xiaoping’s] legislative philosophy of “stressing the major points while neglecting the minor ones” [宜粗不宜细] clearly reveals a chronic illness in China’s legislation.  Many times it seems that there are laws which can address a certain problem, but when it comes time to use the law it becomes impossible to rely on it. 

To really get down to political information disclosure, everybody knows that this is no less difficult than making a country give up its nuclear arsenal, especially when it comes to making officials open up on sensitive personal and financial matters.  People like Wang Qing need to take up a legal weapon that can terrorize.   Unfortunately the usefulness of the regulations thus far has been limited to weight of a pronouncement or a war proclamation.  But just relying on this proclamation of war is not enough to attack.

Simply expecting slogan legislation, expecting officials to discover their consciences,and expecting the little guy to turn this into performance art is all unrealistic.  However, the good intentions of people like Wang Qing should not be underestimated.  At the very least they have acted as a touchstone for information disclosure.  They have demonstrated a kind of beautiful tragedy for the masses as well as the decision makers.  The top priority right now is revising the law, making it truly usable over the long term.  This will make officials accountable to the people and not to their superiors.
 
We should have the confidence to take this beautiful thing we call information disclosure  and not let it become a one night stand.

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