THE issue of China's military transparency has often been brought up in various bilateral and multilateral fora. It was raised again at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore recently.
24 June 2008: Straits Times
By Li Mingjiang, For The Straits Times
THE issue of China's military transparency has often been brought up in various bilateral and multilateral fora. It was raised again at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore recently.
On May 18, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) gave, for the first time, a public press briefing at the Chinese Ministry of Defence. Senior Colonel Hu Changming, the PLA's first spokesman, provided details of the military's role in rescue and relief efforts in the aftermath of the tragic May 12 Sichuan earthquake.
He also provided detailed accounts of the PLA's activities as well as those of aid and assistance from foreign militaries.
His debut signifies the official launch of the Information Office of the Defence Ministry, an institution that observers expect will improve China's military transparency. It had its origin in domestic socio-political developments and circumstances.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed its first spokesman in 1983. But few other government agencies followed suit. The State Council, China's Cabinet, set up an Information Office in 1991. But its main mandate was to improve China's image internationally. It usually found itself in an awkward position as it often had to beg other government agencies to provide information. Discussion of military transparency was almost taboo.
The outbreak of Sars in 2003 made the traditional tight government control of information no longer feasible. The covering-up of information about Sars cases exacerbated public panic and created problems for inter-agency coordination. The spread of rumours, aided by cellphones and the Internet, was fast and furious and, for a short period of time, the whole of society seemed to be out of control. Public confidence in Beijing plummeted, as did the country's international image.
The central leadership realised the danger and quickly switched gears. The mayor of Beijing and the minister of public health were sacked. There was a freer flow of information. The lesson that the Chinese government learned from Sars was that a certain degree of transparency was needed for better policy-making and social stability.
In subsequent years, Beijing pushed for a system of spokesmen in party and government agencies at various levels, to be supervised by the State Council's Information Office. These efforts resulted in the National Regulations on Government Information Opening, which went into effect on May 1 this year.
It was in this context that the appointment of a spokesman for the Chinese military took place. Chinese military analysts, who had suggested such an opening before Sars, now found the political atmosphere favouring their proposal. Conservative military leaders became less resistant because the central leadership supported such opening.
Last December, the State Council's Information Office announced that the Ministry of Defence would soon have its own spokesman to regularly brief the press on issues related to China's military.
Soon after, in January, an announcement was made in the name of the Information Office of the Defence Ministry on the upcoming visit to China by Admiral Timothy Keating, the commander of the United States Pacific Command. Reports followed, saying the PLA spokesman would officially start to brief in February. But that did not take place.
In February, the Ministry of Defence Information Office, behind the scenes, released information regarding the mobilisation of the PLA for rescue and relief during the winter storm disaster that swept many provinces in south China.
Then all of a sudden, Senior Col Hu appeared - on May 18 - together with several other senior PLA officers to brief the press on the PLA's involvement in the earthquake relief work. The Chinese media, quoting senior Chinese military analysts, reported that Col Hu's debut was ahead of schedule. The Defence Ministry Information Office had been planning a later debut for him.
A reason for the spokesman's early appearance was the emergence of false information about the earthquake rescue effort that was circulating widely and rapidly across China. Rumours claimed that some soldiers among the PLA's first batch of parachute troops had died in the mission. Other rumours claimed that the PLA was not responding fast enough and was incompetent at disaster relief.
Other gossip alleged that some nuclear facilities in the areas hit by the quake were damaged and posed a grave threat to people in that region. There was demand from the public to find out more about the PLA's rescue operations.
The PLA obviously felt the pressure to respond quickly to clear the rumours. Col Hu's and other military leaders' comprehensive descriptions of the PLA's activities in the rescue reassured the public, demonstrated the bravery of the soldiers and effectively diminished the negative impact of the rumours. As the Chinese media pointed out, it was the tremor that led to the unveiling of the Defence Ministry's spokesman.
In recent years, China has been taking cautious steps to increase its military transparency. For instance, it has issued defence white papers, participated in various joint exercises and initiated exchange programmes with foreign militaries. Establishing a spokesman for the Defence Ministry is perhaps an even more significant step. It shows that China is moving to meet international expectations.
It also shows that such gradual opening will depend not just on international conditions and pressures, but perhaps, more importantly, on domestic developments and circumstances.
The writer is an assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. He was formerly a diplomatic correspondent for Xinhua News Agency.
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