Online bid to hit officials on assets

Mainland netizens angered by an official's refusal to declare his assets are seeking to set an example with an online campaign to detail their own personal finances.

'Given that mainland civil servants have no tradition of declaring their assets ... and I am the master of my country and responsible for teaching those civil servants, I would like to declare my personal assets and the sources [of that income] online,' said 'Tianyi' on Cat898.com's bulletin board service.

By late yesterday, Tianyi's post had produced more than 600 comments, and several dozen netizens - some using their real names - had joined Tianyi in declaring their assets. The post was copied and circulated on other mainland websites. It gained momentum, as more followers declared their monthly incomes, the amount of their savings and even, in some cases, whether they had mistresses.

The campaign was triggered by comments from a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delegate during last week's annual session in Beijing.

Wang Heyan, a Caijing magazine reporter, asked the delegate whether government officials should declare their assets. The delegate, the chairman of a lower-level consultative conference, responded by asking why members of the public and business leaders did not do the same.

The chairman's response was criticised and mocked on mainland bulletin boards, and Tianyi, who claimed to be from Ningbo, Zhejiang, went one step further in launching the campaign last week.

Wang said the reply reflected not only what was on the mind of the delegate but the thinking of other officials.