announced,referring to the Regulations,that the courts should start making judicial proceedings, their decisions and enforcement information more open to the public.[41]The SPC now regularly publishes draft judicial interpretations for public comment,including one in November 2009 that seeks to clarify and standardize the handling of OGI cases by the courts.[42] Even the Communist Party now talks about"open Party affairs."It has established a press spokesperson system,has a website,http://cpc.people.com.cn,and refers in official pronouncements to the people's"right to know"as a democratic right,in addition to the rights of participation,expression and supervision of government,that needs to be protected.[43]Chinese leaders endorse the concept that"power must be exercised in the sunshine"and that increased transparency enhances the people's trust in the government.[44]Fuller and more immediate reporting of natural disasters like the Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake in the Spring of 2008. mining accidents,incidents of social unrest and public health crises also reflect growing official recognition of the need for greater transparency,even though the Party-state still struggles to control the content and presentation of shared information. Important Work Still Ahead In the United States,the original Freedom of Information Act passed in 1966 was not widely utilized,including by the media,until major revisions in 1974.Congressional hearings on the first five years of implementation catalogued complaints about bureaucratic "foot-dragging," abusive imposition of fees,delaying tactics,a cumbersome and costly judicial remedy,and inadequate prioritization of information disclosure."In too many cases,information is withheld. overclassified,or otherwise hidden from the public to avoid administrative mistakes,waste of funds,or political embarrassment,"the report found.[45]Indeed,that Act has continued to be amended and further improved basically once a decade. Similarly with China's inaugural OGI Regulations,it is clear that much work remains to be done on the government side in terms of additional clarification,strengthening and revision of the Regulations,making conforming revisions to conflicting legislation like the State Secrets and Archives Laws,and eventual adoption of a more authoritative access to information law,as well as providing necessary resources,training and guidance to improve government performance and understanding of its OGI obligations.The State Council General Office recently released additional guidance on handling OGI requests that appears to endorse a restrictive interpretation of the "special needs"language of Article 13 of the Regulations,although it also urges government agencies to more proactively disseminate information that is the subject of a request but is something the general public should or might want to know about,both so as to reduce the number of requests and to increase the efficiency of OGI work.[461 It is too early to tell how this new State Council guidance will impact OGI implementation Nevertheless,it is the public,in China as well as around the world,who will ultimately determine the success or failure of China's fledgling access regime.As international observers and advocates of transparency initiatives around the word have noted,"[T]he response from civil society needs to be energetic,committed,and long term....Without a demand for information and vigorous monitoring of government implementation and enforcement efforts,the hard-won right to information can quickly atrophy."[47]Thus far,the widespread and assertive citizen freedominfo.org 4-23-2010 Page 7freedominfo.org     4‐23‐2010  Page 7  announced, referring to the Regulations, that the courts should start making judicial proceedings, their decisions and enforcement information more open to the public.[41] The SPC now regularly publishes draft judicial interpretations for public comment, including one in November 2009 that seeks to clarify and standardize the handling of OGI cases by the courts.[42] Even the Communist Party now talks about “open Party affairs.” It has established a press spokesperson system, has a website, http://cpc.people.com.cn, and refers in official pronouncements to the people’s “right to know” as a democratic right, in addition to the rights of participation, expression and supervision of government, that needs to be protected.[43] Chinese leaders endorse the concept that “power must be exercised in the sunshine” and that increased transparency enhances the people’s trust in the government.[44] Fuller and more immediate reporting of natural disasters like the Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake in the Spring of 2008, mining accidents, incidents of social unrest and public health crises also reflect growing official recognition of the need for greater transparency, even though the Party-state still struggles to control the content and presentation of shared information. Important Work Still Ahead In the United States, the original Freedom of Information Act passed in 1966 was not widely utilized, including by the media, until major revisions in 1974. Congressional hearings on the first five years of implementation catalogued complaints about bureaucratic “foot-dragging,” abusive imposition of fees, delaying tactics, a cumbersome and costly judicial remedy, and inadequate prioritization of information disclosure. “In too many cases, information is withheld, overclassified, or otherwise hidden from the public to avoid administrative mistakes, waste of funds, or political embarrassment,” the report found.[45] Indeed, that Act has continued to be amended and further improved basically once a decade. Similarly with China’s inaugural OGI Regulations, it is clear that much work remains to be done on the government side in terms of additional clarification, strengthening and revision of the Regulations, making conforming revisions to conflicting legislation like the State Secrets and Archives Laws, and eventual adoption of a more authoritative access to information law, as well as providing necessary resources, training and guidance to improve government performance and understanding of its OGI obligations. The State Council General Office recently released additional guidance on handling OGI requests that appears to endorse a restrictive interpretation of the “special needs” language of Article 13 of the Regulations, although it also urges government agencies to more proactively disseminate information that is the subject of a request but is something the general public should or might want to know about, both so as to reduce the number of requests and to increase the efficiency of OGI work.[46] It is too early to tell how this new State Council guidance will impact OGI implementation. Nevertheless, it is the public, in China as well as around the world, who will ultimately determine the success or failure of China’s fledgling access regime. As international observers and advocates of transparency initiatives around the word have noted, “[T]he response from civil society needs to be energetic, committed, and long term. …Without a demand for information and vigorous monitoring of government implementation and enforcement efforts, the hard-won right to information can quickly atrophy.”[47] Thus far, the widespread and assertive citizen