The Communist party of China has launched an online bulletin board on which citizens can leave messages to their senior political leaders. The innovation is the ruling party’s latest attempt to meld propaganda with the public relations techniques of the internet age.
Direct Line to Zhongnanhai, referring to the compound housing the party leadership’s offices and homes in central Beijing, features a box in which users can type messages before clicking on the name of Hu Jintao, the party chief, or any other member of the politburo inner circle, in order to send it to him.
The move is part of a broad and growing effort of the leadership to demonstrate responsiveness and transparency as it tries to deal with a myriad social and economic pressures without ceding its grip on power.