U.S. Publishes Expenditures Online — Why Doesn’t China?

There are always more solutions than problems, and trying to control the spending of public funds is no different.

Of course there is a problem with spending public funds in America. A Wall Street Journal review discovered in May of this year that many expenses of U.S. congressmen were suspected of being paid for with “public funds.” After this information was disclosed, it incited a major reaction from Americans.

As a countermeasure, U.S. senators and representatives adopted the solution of an online publication and planned to formalize it into law. This shows us the initiative and efficiency with which America solved this problem.

Making public the spending of taxpayer dollars and other expenses is something that has been called for in China early on, yet these repeated appeals have been fruitless. In some areas and departments in China, problems such as the misuse of taxpayer dollars for dining expenditures are relatively serious. The main reason for this is the lack of openness and transparency; the people have no oversight.

Why shouldn’t China learn from America on this and let public expenditures be published on the Internet? We definitely do not lack the means to do this. First, there is a government website for every level of government, so there is no lack of a publishing platform. Second, China has already become the country with the most Internet users in the world; going online is a lifestyle for many Chinese. Therefore, Internet publication could become a larger and more effective mechanism for public oversight. Third, Internet users are very concerned with this type of information. Every time an incident of government misuse of public funds is exposed on the Internet, there is a strong public reaction. This indicates that the public likes these types of publications.

There is the “hardware” support of the government departments and there is the “software” support of public appeal. Government departments should publish public funds spending information as soon as possible. Internet publication costs little, and the results are good. Preventing public funds from being spent wastefully on banquets and other such public spending problems should be a common topic for every country in the world. America is able to do this; why shouldn’t we? The key is our resolve and our attitude.

The reason some of China’s problems with corruption remain unresolved lies in the lack of quick and resolute methods. Some problems are clearly universally recognized, yet it is simply difficult to make progress in resolving them. China could really learn from how America effectively published its public funds expenditures.