In September, China's central government announced that death tolls from natural disasters would no longer be classified as state secrets. The initiative, announced appropriately enough by the National Administration of State Secrets, was presented as partial fulfilment of the government's long-standing pledge to improve transparency.

The shadowy body oversees the classification of data and sanctions the suppression of often commonplace information deemed dangerous to the state. Its mere existence is evidence enough of how seriously China and the ruling Communist party have taken matters of secrecy. Indeed, secrecy remains the reflex response - as the people of Harbin discovered last week when their water was cut off.