Thirty-five out of China’s 43 federal departments get failing grades on transparency, according to the 2010 China Administrative Transparency Report by the OGI Watch Alliance Project.
“The institution that did the worst was the Ministry of Supervision, the very ministry responsible for making sure officials release information in accordance with the law,” according to an article in The China Daily.
The study covers about 200 government administrations, with performance judged on the availability of materials such as budgets and minutes from public hearing. The best test results were secured by the country’s intellectual property office, followed by the banking regulatory commission and the family planning commission.
The worst were the Railways Ministry, the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office and the Ministry of Supervision, the same agencies that had ranked at the bottom the year before.
Wang Jingbo, a China University of Political Science and Law professor who also took part in the research, said one reason the three departments barely improved in the past year is that “their attitudes haven’t changed,” The China Daily reported. “When we called officials in the State Council’s legislative office and asked them to release an opinion solicited on a draft law, they simply said they didn’t have to disclose that,” she said. “As for those who responded to our application, the information they offered usually lacked substance.”
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