The local government of Shenzhen, in Guangdong Province, declared that city departments and officials must publicly apologize if they do not perform their duties properly. The following are excerpts from media comment on the policy:

Yanzhao Metropolis News : After the Shenzhen government released the decision, many people raised doubts.

Some said that the government departments should try to make up for their failure once they found they had not fulfilled their duty. A public apology under such circumstances would only be a show.

I have different opinion.

The departments would have to give a detailed account of their failures and their compensation measures in their public apology.

It shows an appropriate sense of responsibility as well as a promise to correct a previous fault. With the apology, the government department also offers the public a chance to watch it complete its tasks.

Government departments used to show no regret over work not done properly. When the government begins to apologize for mistakes, it is starting to view the public as the one it serves. By showing more respect for the public, the administration is making significant progress in administrative practice.

Students are always required to raise their hands before speaking. The action of raising hands is a formality, but it helps maintain order by showing the respect for others.

Similarly, the public apology required by the Shenzhen government, even if it is only a formality, is a good start toward more substantial goodwill actions in the public interest.

We need the formality, even if it just for show. It shows the administration is trying to have a dialogue with the public on an equal base.

China Economic Times : It is natural for civil servants to apologize if they fail in their professional roles. The apology is also necessary for improving government transparency and accepting public supervision.

But it is far from enough. The core responsibility of civil servants is to do their jobs according to the law. If they do not observe that rule, they should be punished according to law before they take other actions to compensate, like a public apology. 

Chinese civil servants should follow the Civil Servant Act, the Administrative License Law, several special laws as well as other internal regulations. But it is not unusual to hear cases of civil servants who could not perform their duties.

That failure reflects a long-time disregard for laws and regulations.

When civil servants or government departments apologize for failure to perform their duty, the public may forgive their faults in the moral sense.

Yet, the apology should never excuse their failures. The most important point is that they should take substantial actions to correct their failures.

Among the State efforts to establish the rule of law, the regulation and punishment of civil servants should only be carried out within the legal framework. Otherwise, the public may worry that the apology distracts them from asking more questions about the failures and the punishment of those responsible.

The Shenzhen government asked the departments and civil servants to apologize for their faults as a moral discipline. Yet, as the country enters a critical stage of installing the rule of law, over-stressing morality may distract people from focusing on the legal stipulations.

Government at all levels should pay more attention to implementing current laws and regulations instead of devising various policies targeting insignificant details.

(China Daily March 21, 2007)