Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Law enforcement in China

Just a reminder that Dan Harris, writer of China Law Blog was quoted here about a week ago, that implementation of law in China is more important than the letter of the law.

This report comes from Howard French of the New York Times.

Beijing’s Lack of Penalties in Labor Cases Stirs Outrage

"China’s efforts to bring a quick end to an embarrassing labor scandal over slavelike conditions for hundreds of workers at brick kilns in Shanxi Province has provoked anger among victims and widespread criticism.

"The provincial government said Monday that dozens of officials were being punished in the scandal, but that only six low-level figures in the Communist Party or the local government would be prosecuted...

"Contradicting the accounts of many people who were freed from the kilns, including numerous children, [Yang Senlin, a senior provincial Communist Party disciplinary official] said there was no evidence of collusion or corruption among local officials.

"Chinese journalists say government propaganda officials have urged the news media to limit coverage of the scandal...

"News media reports have suggested that the Shanxi police were receiving protection payments. In the first reported trial related to the scandal, Wang Bingbing, a kiln operator accused of illegal detention, said he should be treated leniently because he had given money to the police. The trial is believed to have concluded, but no verdict has been announced..."


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1 Comments:

At 7:40 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

China: Sentences Given in Slave Labor Cases

"China announced the first sentences for people implicated in a large-scale slave labor scandal involving brick kilns in Shanxi Province. Zhao Yanbing, a guard at one of the kilns who was convicted of beating a mentally handicapped worker to death with a shovel, was given the death penalty, while the plant’s foreman was given a life term for imprisoning 31 workers."

 

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