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A lawyer (right) offers legal advice to a citizen in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

ON FRIDAY, THE LUZHOU MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE to announce the conclusions of an investigation into the death of Zhao Xin, a 14-year-old middle school student who was found dead at the foot of his dormitory building on April 1. According to the autopsy results and relevant investigations, it was concluded that Zhao died after falling from the fifth floor and that rumors he was beaten to death by the sons of five officials were groundless. That rumor had triggered a lot of public rage. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

That incident proves once again that transparency is the best way of defeating rumors. When an incident arouses public doubts, what the local government needs to do is to publish all the details and tell the truth to the public. As soon as the local government responds to people's doubts sincerely, rumors will diminish.

It would have been much better if the local government of Luzhou, Southwest China's Sichuan province, had responded to rumors about Zhao's death immediately. However, the local government failed to respond to the family's requests for information in a timely manner and it sought to prevent the media from investigating what had happened.

What the Luzhou county officials did was foolish. We live in an age of information and whatever happens may be spread nationwide via the internet within hours. Local government officials must realize this and answer people's questions faithfully, instead of trying to stick their heads in the sand when an incident takes place.

That's also the basis for improving the rule of law. The central leadership has more than once required local officials to actively respond to public concerns in time and coordinate to solve problems. It is time the officials learned the art of interacting with the public.