【正文】 in the lack of independence in the current government auditing system. The “Legislature Approach” has been widely discussed among Chinese academics. Although it emphasises audit independence, it neglects the centralised nature of the government structure, the political tension between the government and the legislature, and the problems that the legislature itself faces. Therefore, implementing this approach in the current political climate may weaken the government39。s congress and the government is that of supervisor and supervisee, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the government audit office to serve two “masters”. In such a conflicting situation, the government audit office can only put the government39。s unwillingness to expose a CGO. This is reflected in the remarks made by one interviewee, a deputy directorgeneral at a provincial government audit office: The difficulty that the audit office faces in performing budget auditing is truly enormous, because fiscal and 6 financial powers rest in the hands of the CGO. Important fiscal and financial issues and the annual fiscal and financial budget must be decided by the CGO. Once the budget is set, any budget adjustment must also be approved by the government and its CGO. Under such conditions, auditing fiscal and financial budgets would be equivalent to the audit of the government and it39。s congress even if the audit office carried out budget auditing at the government level. If the government determines the content of the audit report, budget auditing is in effect the government39。s discretionary disclosure policies on government affairs and are also heavily affected by the attitudes of CGOs. . Auditing gaps Most interviewees mentioned the same problem。s Congress. They even directly demand the audit office to remove big issues that violate regulations from the audit report. An official from the NAO also admitted in the interview that some local governments and related authorities interfere with the disclosure of audit findings and the resolution of audit results in order to shirk responsibilities and avoid excessive disclosure that might overshadow their political career. The interview data thus suggests that the audit office is not only constrained by the government in terms of audit planning and the determination of audit tasks, but also the disclosure of audit results. That is, the audit office cannot make its own decisions on what to disclose, how to disclose, and when to disclose. Consequently, there is no assurance on the authority and transparency of audit reports. With the submission of audit reports to the people39。s congress and the public. . Restricted disclosure of audit results 4 The interviewees generally felt that the disclosure of audit results might be restricted. A deputy CGO (a deputy mayor) of a municipal government mented in the interview: The audit report follows governmental arrangements, but this does not necessarily indicate that the government will prevent the disclosure of audit issues. Whoever acts as the CGO faces external pressure and thus s/he will disclose something, explain it to the people39。s congress and taxpayers outside the government are also audit clients, and entrust the government audit office to investigate how the government implemented fiscal budgets approved by the people39。s direct control. The following paragraphs elaborate the main problems identified in the interviews. . Lack of audit independence The majority of our interviewees acknowledged some direct or indirect 3 intervention by people or anisations from outside the NAO. These have a strong negative impact on audit planning, the training and appointment of auditing personnel, the determination of audit tasks, the dealing with problems identified in the audit, and the disclosure of audit results. As a result, theNAOcan hardly perform any independent auditing. A directorgeneral of a provincial government audit office mented: The problems identified in the audit should be dealt with in accordance with law, but if the problems involve the government, the audit office will experience interference from the governmental official in charge or