Four amazing things

[Randy W]

An interesting article, if you want to read through it. It makes many points, so it's hard to summarize, but I'll mention a few. In the SCMP

 

Four amazing things I learned about China’s top leadership this week

China’s leading legal scholar Wang Zhenmin provided unique insight into the thinking of the inner circle of senior leaders in Beijing

 

 

• On the Lee Bo publishers issue, he said it was “a very unfortunate incident”, and that it would be very unfortunate if any such thing ever recurred. He then unequivocally confirmed that only the Hong Kong government and its agencies have authority to enforce the law inside Hong Kong. This was implicit in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and in the Basic Law, but was never spelled out in specific words. I think this is as near as we may ever get to a Beijing confession that someone messed up, and over-reached their authority, in the still-murky Lee Bo matter.

 

. . .

 

• He talked frankly about the flagrant subordination of the law to politics during Mao’s time, about the awful inadequacy of the legal system, and about the challenge now being undertaken to eliminate party influence over judges and the courts, and to make the Party answerable to a constitution, and transparent legal principles. With a total of 300,000 legal professionals now trained and active in the mainland, China might not quite have reached the legalistic heights set by the US (1.2 million practising legal professionals), but Wang certainly suggested the country was on its way.

 

 

. . .

 

But the fact that he speaks with direct authority from the most senior leadership in Beijing cannot be downplayed. This is without question an important component of the party and political reform effort currently under way in the Mainland, and an important priority for Xi and his team. If it is indeed true that efforts are underway to eliminate party leverage over legal decision-making across the country – in particular at the level of city mayors – then this must surely means that Xi is less the megalomaniac autocrat than some western commentators seem keen to depict. Wang talked of Beijing appointing judges nationwide, and of court funding to come from the Provincial Government – eliminating the financial power currently exerted by mayors over local courts. These would be significant and encouraging changes.

 

. . .

 

And a final thought. Rule of Law is all very well if access to the law is too costly for us ordinary mortals to afford. Here in Hong Kong, even a simple civil action in court will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. For most Hong Kong people, legal recourse is out of the question simply because it is too costly. If Wang can suggest ways China can give access to legal protection without bankrupting us, he would do us a great service. Strength to his arm.

David Dodwell is Executive Director of the Hong Kong-APEC Trade Policy Group

 

 

 

[Allon]

Interesting that China is developing a soft spot? Unfortunately, only he can say such things.

 

Good article, Randy.