Sincerity doubted as officials show frugality

A TV journalist came across Wu Tianjun, Communist Party chief of Zhengzhou City, taking the subway to his office on Monday after a meeting.

Others expressed support for Wu and expect more officials to follow suit, not as a cost cutting measure, but as a way to hear what the public really thinks.

Xu insists it was not a stage-managed event, adding he had been reporting on the opening of the new subway line when he spotted Wu.

"Party members and officials, while servants of the public, are also members of the public. Leading officials should mingle with the masses more often, without advance notification, and listen to their voices to know the true situation,"said Wang Shushan, Communist Party chief of Xuchang City, Henan.

This is one of the better traditions of our Party and we should adhere to it, he said.

Police chief Fu is not known as an official who stays cooped up in his office, he often joins the patrols, according to his officers. First, it showcases the importance of the capital's security work. Second, it can lead other senior officials to change their work styles, they say.

The Chinese leadership last year launched a "mass line"education campaign to further ties between Party members and the people, and clean up undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucratization, hedonism and extravagance.

Such trips are normal and should be encouraged as the Party works to build closer ties with the people, said Fang Ning of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Officials should make use of every means to strengthen their relations with the public, he added.

"Undoubtedly, officials should serve the people,"said Yan Jirong, professor of politics at Peking University.