However, in order to have public supervision reach every facet of society, there is still a long way ahead. Essentially speaking, public supervision is a service established by democratic politics, and the strengthening of public supervision is part of the process of active participation by them in national affairs and the management of public services. Establishing a modern civil society first requires the protection of public authority, especially as the government is exercising its own. Aside from this, in the end, democratic politics must be established, exactly as Hu Jintao, at the Central Standing Committee's Advanced Training for Provincial Cadres, said: "We must work hard to satisfy the Chinese people's constantly increasing, positive political participation."

With this backdrop, the EO interviews Cai Dingjian, professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and director of the Constitutionalism Institute there. From 1986 until the end of 2003, he worked in the research division's secretariat in the NPC's Standing Committee, eventually becoming the deputy director. In January of 2004, be was appointed to his professorship, where he mainly deals with constitutional law, the establishment of China's legal system, the NPC, parliamentarianism, elections, and the relationship between media and government.

The legislature respects the will of the people

The Economic Observer: During the second deliberation of the Response to Breaking Events Law,  the section saying that news media must not violate regulation when reporting on breaking events was removed. As a constitutional scholar, how do you interpret this?

Cai Dingjian: This is an extremely positive development, it proves that legislative bodies and the government respect public feedback and opinion, and have responded positively to it. It also illustrates that public opinion and the media are taking on a greater role.

When some sudden, newsworthy event happens, is it better for information to be locked up, or for it to be fully disclosed to the public? During SARS it became obvious that without full publicity, rumors spread that lead to panic. Of course, if news media publishes false information it can lead to social disorder, but in weighing the pros and cons, publicity is the best way to deal with breaking events. During urgent situations, if everyone isn't notified, everyone makes wild assumptions that damage the authority of the government, and this is even worse for the management of the crisis.

Evidence shows that these past few years, legal organs have increasingly respected popular will and positively responded to the voice of society. For example, the Employment Stimulus Law, which is being deliberated on by the Standing Committee of the NPC right now, had received over 10,000 responses to the online solicitation for suggestions. Among them, the greatest amount focused on the law's absence on issues of bias in the workplace, and since then, the law has expanded to include a special section devoted to those issues.