FOR

Feng Wenshu

Blog.sina.com.cn

Of all the virtues, Chinese people value filial piety most. If someone is disrespectful to his parents or in-laws, how could he possibly be concerned with the well-being of his relatives, friends or colleagues, not to mention the sense of social responsibility or love to the people and the country? These are all qualities a good civil servant should possess. In this regard, it is necessary to introduce filial piety as one of the criteria for promoting officials and evaluating their performance.

Selecting those possessing both ability and moral integrity as officials is one of the essential standards of appointing officials of the Communist Party of China. People with virtues but without ability cannot be a qualified official, either. The right way to select officials trusted by people is to assess the candidate's ability with the prerequisite that he or she is proved to be a good family member.

The creative practice of Weixian will make more officials pay attention to their personal morality, creating a favorable atmosphere for governing on the basis of virtues. 

Li Wei

Office worker, Beijing

I am in favor of the practice in Weixian.

For one thing, the original intention of making filial piety as one of the criteria of appointing and promoting officials is for the sake of people and is worthy of approval. Respecting and caring for parents and the senior are foundations of all social morality. Assessing an official's filial piety is an essential part of assessing his or her moral integrity.

For another, officials' setting good example in showing filial piety will encourage ordinary ones to follow, favorable to the formation of fine ethical trend of respecting and caring for the elderly.

While assessing a candidate's filial piety, the government should stick to strict standard and right direction to make sure it is not just a formality.

Huang Yunming

Ethics professor

I think the attempt of Weixian to seek new ways of selecting qualified officials is constructive.

The debate on the distinction between public virtue and private virtue has merit. This applies in Western countries. However, in the traditional Chinese culture, there is no such clear distinction. In modern society, there have been specific assessing standards to evaluate an official's ability. As for the moral integrity, there should also be institutional regulations aimed at constraining the dark side of human nature.