Chinese officials ordered to stop avoiding media questions about emergencies

Chinese government officials will no longer be allowed to avoid commenting on emergencies under new legal changes designed to give journalists better “legal protection”.

A commentary published Friday in Legal Weekly, a newspaper overseen by the Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs – a Communist Party body with broad oversight powers over the legal and security apparatus – said changes to the Emergency Response Law mean Officials should not shy away from answering media inquiries.

The law was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 2007 and was first revised in June. The changes took effect this month.

“Implementation of the Emergency Response (Amendment) Act means government departments can no longer use the word ‘no comment’ to avoid answering when answering media questions about emergencies,” Legal Weekly said in a commentary.

“This certainly provides legal protection for news interviews and emergency reporting.”

The commentary highlights Section 8 of the law, which stipulates that government departments must “support the media in their reporting and public control” of official bodies, and that news coverage of emergencies must be “timely, accurate, objective and fair.”

He also emphasized the government’s responsibility to promptly publish public alerts and other emergency response information.