Chinese officials grilled on TV

BEIJING - They call the shots in their various government departments, overseeing matters from water to traffic. But earlier this month, some officials of Wuhan city in central Hubei province found themselves in the line of fire inside a television studio instead.

"Have you ever visited our area?" a man fed up with the flooding in his area lobbed a question at Mr Zuo Shaobin, chief of the water bureau.

"No, I haven't," admitted Mr Zuo, whose face grew redder when the man walked up and gave him a pair of rain boots.

Such was the scene from Dian Shi Wen Zheng, a popular programme on Wuhan TV that has attracted wide attention in China for giving rise to new questions about how officials should be made accountable.

Started in 2011 when it was aired just once a year, the show has become such a hit that it is now run twice a year, with five episodes each time.

In each episode, six to eight officials go on the show to be quizzed about municipal matters by studio audiences drawn from Wuhan residents.

Officials have to respond on the spot to problems such as faulty traffic lights or dirty precincts, which are highlighted in undercover video segments pre-recorded by the show's producers.

At the end of the show, officials would make a solemn pledge to lick the problem.

The show has been a great hit: Its ratings are thrice those of prime-time dramas in Wuhan and it has spawned copycats from Nanjing city in the south-east to Yinchuan city in the north-west.

But many wonder: Is it just good television or a good way to keep officials in line?

It is a bit of both, said Professor Yin Yungong, a media expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Common folk can have a good laugh when officials embarrass themselves," he said.

In Western democracies, it is not unusual to see politicians or officials being grilled on TV, he noted, especially during elections. While most officials in China do not face elections, better-educated and more Internet-savvy citizens are asking more of their leaders and expecting them to be more responsive these days.

The shows help maintain social stability by giving people an avenue to voice their unhappiness, he said.

But other observers are more sceptical. Officials may be shamed publicly, but it is not clear if there will be any consequences if they do not deliver on their promises. They also point to limits on the extent to which TV stations can push the envelope.

A guest on the show, Professor Zhao Zhenyu, of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said while the impact of such shows may be limited, they are better than nothing. "It's another way to supervise officials. They'd have to get used to facing criticism on such platforms," he said.

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