By Lu Ning(鲁宁), a commentator from Oriental Morning Post
Economic Observer Online 
Original article: [Chinese]

On Aug 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) officially acknowledged that in accordance with regulations governing the implementation of the Budget Law《预算法实施条例》, the ministry is required to release details of its public spending. However, the department also went on to explain that the State Secrets Act 《保密法》 prevents it from releasing some of the spending and therefore this year they will not be making spending on official receptions, vehicles and overseas travel in 2010 and the budgeted spending on the same items for 2011 public.

The media have labeled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the first and only central government department to openly defy the central government’s moves to push for the disclosure of the “san gong” or “three public expenses” as they are known in Chinese.

In March this year when Premier Wen Jiabao delivered his government work report to the “Two Sessions” it include a request for 98 central ministries to declare their spending for 2010 and also their planned spending for 2011 by the end of June this year.

Due to “carelessness” in the way the media reported the issue, many people were led to believe that there are only 98 independent units under the central government, where in fact there are 101.

Premier Wen purposefully excluded 3 central government institutions from the requirement of publishing their spending on these items. These “sensitive” and “mysterious” ministries include the Ministry of State Security and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and like the MFA, are yet to make their “three public expenses” public.

The Ministry of State Security doesn’t even have a website to release its information on, so it’s not surprising that it is not expected to make its spending public.

The Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, is involved in the open operation of government that are very different from the secret work done by State Security. Thus, there shouldn’t be a reason or need to keep its expenses secret.

Furthermore, this is the first time that ministries have been required to declare their public expenses, and the public is only privy to the most general details about the aggregate amount of spending. As for how the money is spent and whether it’s reasonable or necessary - only the ministries themselves know that. All in all, the “state secrets” excuse given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn’t stack up.

The only possible explanation as to why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not want to release this information is that they are embarrased by the huge size of their spending

Releasing details of government spending is just the first step in a broader trend of opening up the workings of government to the public. This case reminds us there’s an urgent need to establish strict rules with regard to making expenses public that clearly stipulate what needs to be declared and to what extent. Otherwise every ministry will try to minimize the amount of information they publish, leaving the public dissatisfied.

 I hope that before it comes time to release next year’s spending figures, strict regulations will be put in place that make clear what has to be disclosed and when.