Zhang Chuanshi, a farmer in Changle, Fujian province, shows a bottle of medicine on Aug 8 that he carries with him to cure the throat disease he says resulted from pollution. A local environment bureau chief was fired for chastising a reporter who tried to interview him about the alleged pollution. [Wei Peiquan / For China Daily]

A government official in Fujian Province, east China, has been suspended from his post for reprimanding a reporter for calling him.

In late July, a local TV reporter called Chen Guiguang, environmental protection bureau director of Changle city, to ask him about a pollution case.

According to the video footage posted on a micro blog by the TV station on August 4, Chen said to the reporter, "You shouldn't call me."

"If everybody could call me whenever they wanted, wouldn't that mean a bureau chief is worth nothing?"

"My number shouldn't be called by ordinary people. Why should my phone be reachable by people in the public like you?"

Chen's words drew attention online quickly. The local government soon suspended him from his post.

Unlike Chen, Chinese officials in many places are trying to make their phone numbers available to the public.

In 2008, Kunming government in southwest China's Yunnan province published the office numbers of the mayor and of bureau chiefs at the city, district and county levels on local newspapers. Chengde, Shaoxing and other cities in the country followed suit.

In March 2011, Shanxi Province released the mobile-phone numbers and e-mail addresses of 260 officials of the Communist Party.

Experts said it would help open a channel for communication between officials and the public and make government affairs more transparent.

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