China Law Blog

On May 1, China's new national ordinance on openness of information will come into effect. China Media Project just did an article on that new ordinance, entitled, "Rules upon rules: Henan leaders move to prevent local abuse of national information release legislation." (h/t to the Chinese Law Prof Blog) China Media Project is highly dubious of this new law without concomitant political reform:

The document pledges to make government information available to the public in a whole range of areas — from public health and sanitation to education, utilities and urban planning. But what assurance do we have that this document will make any difference at all? None, save words and gestures.

As we’ve said time and again at CMP, the critical issue lurking behind the question of greater openness of information in China is political reform. Without real institutional change there is no way to guarantee officials do not suppress information they regard as unfavorable to their own interests.

I agree and I disagree. Without political reform, very little stops the government from keeping secret what it really wants to keep secret. However, even standing alone, and even without enforcement, laws can have meaning and they can have influence. Laws can convey ideas and this law conveys the idea that government should be open. That is a start.