After-Effects of Anger-Venting Incidents

By Yu Jianrong
Jul 26, 2009 – 1:02:19 PM

As they handled the incident, Shishou officials were not in fact without experiences to learn from. Following the “Weng’an incident,” Guizhou Party Secretary Shi Zongyuan made three clear points: adhering to information transparency, it is necessary to allow the media complete access to true and accurate information from the very first; use the power of the media to disclose the facts and details of the incident. Start the system of public opinion supervision, giving timely answers to people’s questions. Disclose the truth seeking truth from facts, and break the formula of “masses who are ignorant of the truth at the instigation of a small number of bad guys”. Experiences summed up by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Zifu applicable to handling of the scene of the incident include: local government in charge must visit the site in person from the very first; information must be made public, and in particular, within the golden 24 hours constantly disclose accurate and factual information, giving rumors no chance to spread; and use the police with caution.

But this clearly played no role with Shishou’s local party government. Its every act went backwards on the lessons of Weng’an, its every step promoted the escalation of the situation. So, the problem we have to face is why the valuable lessons learned did not merit spontaneous respect and learning on the part of senior officials of the local party government directly responsible for the region’s stability, and the price had repeatedly to be paid? There may be many deeper level reasons, but the relevant officials have not really been held accountable, and the impact can’t be overestimated. This very serious problem can hopefully be improved by the Shishou incident, as a warning to others.

“Xiefen shijian de houxu xiaoying” [], Nan fengchuang, 25 July 2009 [于建嵘：“泄愤事件的后续效应”，南风窗，2009年7月 25日 (<http://www.nfcmag.com/articles/1577>here).].