Wen's online dialogue not just PR exercise
- Source: Global Times
- [22:29 March 03 2010]
- Comments
By Zhan Sheng
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) chats on-line with netizens at two state news portals in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 27, 2010. The two major portals, namely www.gov.cn of the central government, and www.xinhuanet.com of Xinhua News Agency, jointly interviewed Premier Wen on Saturday with chosen questions raised by netizens. Photo: Xinhua
Over the Spring Festival holidays, one event drew the attention of every Chinese netizen. That was the online chat run by Premier Wen Jiabao, who took questions from ordinary users in an attempt to reach out to China's Internet users and the general public.
The online chat was a sincere effort by Wen, known as the "People's Premier," to reach out to netizens right before the "Two Sessions" of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Wen's chat reflects the "People First" slogan promoted by the Party as the governing spirit for public officials.
But the US VOA interpreted some people's questions toward poisonous milk as serious queries, citing detailed dissatisfied views from victim families.
The French RFI criticized the slogan of "People First" as "hypocrisy."
The Asian Wall Street Journal said that "Mr Wen didn't address sensitive political issues in the two-hour discussion."
Answering questions about the government on the Internet has become an important "People First" initiative for Chinese government officials.
Before the "Two Sessions," in addition to the premier's dialogue with netizens, some members of CPPCC also opened blogs to voice their opinions and communicate with netizens on the public needs.
In Wen's chat, he talked about the Sanlu poisonous milk powder incident. Some parents of victims interviewed by the overseas media thought that they had received little compensation, but it's unfair to ask the premier to take the blame for the whole system.
His attempt to answer from his own point of view couldn't solve everybody's problem, but it was by no means dodging the question either.
Since assuming his position, Wen has frequently visited disaster zones, particularly after the 5/12 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, and has made personal efforts to check on people's living conditions, venturing underground to speak with trapped survivors.
He even shifted the visit from Sunday to one day earlier, hoping to avoid interrupting the family meal during the Lantern Festival on Sunday, which was very considerate.
