The taxi uproar in Yinchuan, capital of China's northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has calmed down for the time being, as local authorities decided to suspend two controversial taxi regulations.

Some articles in the local decrees, as taxi businesses complained, were going to substantially increase their financial burden through such measures as reducing the worn-out term on cabs to five years from the mandatory eight years stipulated in national vehicle codes.

Taxi drivers protested to the municipal government shortly after the decrees were made public last Wednesday. Some 6,800 drivers stopped working on Friday, grinding taxi transport in Yinchuan to a halt.

Taxi operation in the city resumed on Saturday after the mayor announced the two decrees had been suspended. Local officials also went to taxi companies to court opinions from managers and drivers.

The local authorities' handling of the incident was good. They responded promptly, compromised on the unreasonable rules and demonstrated a willingness to listen to the industry's voice.

But they really need to contemplate why they were not able to be so attentive prior to making the bitterly-resented decrees.

The problem is not only about negligence of the livelihood of thousands of hand-to-mouth taxi drivers in the city, but about the defects in the decision-making system that make it open to deviation from public interests at times.

There are many considerations behind a government decision, ranging from political merit to economic gain to mere fame. But public opinion should never be excluded in making a policy that involves public interests.

Aside from the suspicion that Yinchuan's decrees may have been illegal, the incident was at least an example of poor communication between policy-makers and the public. Despite the local authorities' sincerity to solve it, the incident has brewed public dissatisfaction.

In addition to meeting growing public demand for better protection of their property and rights, the landmark Law on Administrative Licensing, effective as of last month, has set clear-cut limits on the government's authority in administering public affairs.

Listening to the public's voice rather than adopting an ivory-tower approach is a wise way for government departments to win public understanding and avoid making problematic policies.

(China Daily August 5, 2004)