President urges tolerance, faster work on cyber-law

President Xi Jinping called on Tuesday for "more tolerance and patience" toward netizens and welcomed online criticism, "whether mild or fierce", as long as it arises from goodwill.

Xi made the remarks at a rare high-profile meeting as the country's 700 million internet users get more say in social governance and public events.

The president also urged speeding up legislation of a cyber-law, improving legal supervision and preventing risks caused by the internet.

The government should take constructive advice from netizens, help those who are in difficulties and explain to those who don't understand the situation, Xi said. Netizens' complaints should be addressed quickly, and wrong online attitudes should be corrected.

Government officials should get close to the people through the internet, listen to online public opinions and suggestions, and answer the public's concerns in a positive manner, he said.

The meeting was attended by entrepreneurs of internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, experts on media research and officials of internet management.

Premier Li Keqiang and senior publicity official Liu Yunshan, both on the seven member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting as deputy leaders of the central internet security and informatization leading group. The group, headed by Xi, was established in February 2014. During the meeting, Xi talked with 10 representatives from colleges, companies and government departments and heard their suggestions on cybersecurity, core technology and public opinions. Noting China's large number of internet users, Xi said that cyberspace should be regulated to make it a clean place for netizens, especially adolescents.

During the meeting, the 10 representatives gave speeches and held discussions with Xi.

Xie Xinzhou, director of Peking University's School of New Media, said the government should improve its skills in communicating with the public, especially young people, since more people are using smartphones to get information, socialize and entertain themselves, he said.

Zuo Xiaodong, vice-president of the China Information Security Research Institute, told China Daily that the internet is a good platform for government officials to better understand public opinion.

In recent years, many governmental departments have established their own Weibo or WeChat accounts to post information, "but a majority of the mare often silent when an emergency occurs or have concerns about saying something wrong," he said.

Some local governmental officials have banned online comments as some netizens challenged their work, which is not sensible or effective for problem solving, said Ning Jiajun, director of the Experts Committee of the State Information Center.

"For online comments, I think, we should govern them with much opener attitude, but for those that harm others or violate laws, we must crack down on them," Ning said.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

Highlights of Xi's speech

Government officials:

They should learn to get closer to the public by surfing the internet from time to time to better understand what people are thinking about and what they want.

Netizens:

They deserve more patience and tolerance.

Their constructive advice should be taken.

They should be helped with their difficulties.

Their complaints should be addressed quickly.

Online criticism and supervision:

Online criticism of the government, whether mild or fierce, should be welcomed and taken seriously by the officials on the condition that it is made out of goodwill.

(China Daily USA 04/20/2016 page1)