Liang Wendao: CCTV’s raison d'etre

The only thing should be done by the public broadcasters is to transform the gains into the resources serving to the community.

Many years ago when I worked for a radio station, I began to realize that the hardest part was the programs about culture and art, as well as that provide for the elders and disadvantaged, since they could not make profit. The culture market is too small to be treated with contempt by advertisers, as to elders, how much power of consumption could they have? But the station was committed to do so because the HK government considered the atmospheric radio wave as a rare public resource where the spectrum was limited (at least before the digital radio becomes popular). Then it must carry out commitments to the community once the radio station took up such precious public resources even though it’s a purely commercial organization, such as making some profitless while essential programs. “Social Obligations”, which can be used by the public broadcasters in the world wide as a criterion to judge themselves, prove the foundation of the value of self-existence. From BBC of British, NHK of Japan, RTHK of Hong Kong to CCTV of Mainland China, almost all of the largest and earliest electronic media are publicly-owned. Their existences are absolutely not self-evidence; on the contrary, they should be responsible for the citizen, explaining why they occupy the atmospheric radio wave. Generally speaking, comparing to the private enterprise, the most obvious feature of the public-owned broadcasters is that they cannot put profit-making first, which means the ratings is not the only criterion to access what programs are worth to make while others are not. The culture programs are hard to seek profit, nevertheless, they are crucial to the long-term development of the country even the whole human beings; although popular science programs would not be as welcomed as dramas, they can add to people’s knowledge. If some commercial media are forced to assign a certain time and cost to make them, why dose a public-owned broadcaster refuse such programs?

If the public-owned broadcasters receive public funds, as well as occupying a great number of radio spectrum, then the advertising income should not feather their own nest; even to cost a huge sum of money to build up landmark building by which to show off to the world. The only thing it should do is to transform the profit into resources for the community. “serve the society” sounds very abstract, but actual tasks are concrete, and one of which is to convenient the public to keep abreast of the of current affairs and take part in giving opinion and decision-making. A while ago BBC was criticized seriously by the government and public that refusing an advertisement about humanity supporting Gaza refugees. It is not only for the reason that BBC violated the neutral point of view which therefore had the suspicion of being partial towards Israel; but more importantly, as a public-owned broadcaster, it should scrupulously abided by a higher level of standard trying to bring this world to the audience unbiased. It would be no difference to deprive British people of the right of accessing to the full facts which prevent them from adopting the acts to help the refugees.

ARD is the old-brand television network in German. Its appearance was origin from the explanation of the clause of freedom of expression in the court o Federal Republic of Germany constitution. The judges hold that the freedom of expression should not only be negatively assured, but also positively promoted, making them known the affairs that may impacts the country and at the same time, supervising the government acts. Since the shadow of Nazi is so deeply that they specially pointed out one of the tasks of ARD is giving chances to the public criticizing the government in order to avid being lost in iniquity.

Although ARD inspired awe by upholding justice, at this late hour, it just can’t help being degenerating. Some scholars believed that it had already changed from lobbyists for society facing the government to society for lobbyists, where the reason is the gaining ground of forces of business.

It seems like an overall trend that the public broadcaster becomes commercialized, even yield to pressure from enterprises in order to ingratiate with great merchants and celebrities. As a result, a movement of public broadcasting was initiated in recent 30 years whose idea was giving the leader role back to people. If the conventional public-owned broadcasters often neglect the disadvantaged and lower class, or twist their voice while representing these people; then they should remove the time period or even the channel to support these invisible men by commercial media both through financial and technology, in order to express themselves to the whole society.

Till then they have already been nearby the final purpose under the era of market: let the invisible be seen and the silent be heard. To be sure, comparing to a magnificent building, only a truly and tough voice from lower ranks could make the evidence of public-owned media being great and imposing. 

China Should Abolish Peasant Worker System

The financial crisis demonstrates the tremendous influence of peasant workers immediately. A large number of them lost their jobs and went back to the hometown. But they just found out that nothing could be done and then flowed back to the city. More importantly, many peasant workers are not alone, but the whole family.

They have been left hometown for years, with children studying in the local school in which city they also worked at. Once they get back to the hometown, not only the job hunting becomes a problem, but a series of trouble will be met such as children attending schools.

It is suggested that peasant workers could be rearranged back to build up socialist new countryside. But it’s really not that easy because the peasant workers cannot be deemed as peasants any more. It’s hard for them to work as a farmer as before. Since they have knowledge of the outside world after years’ drifting around, a thoroughly different recognition for both themselves and the outside communities has been formed.

The importance of peasant workers

In fact, when it comes to transport during Spring Festival or epidemic like SARS, or economic recession, it is always the knottiest problem for the governments at all levels to deal with the relevant problems about peasant workers.

From experiences of other countries, China has no choice but abolishing the peasant workers system on this problem. In this country, the appearance of peasant workers is inevitable outcome of history, and expression of improvement of social system in its early days.

Before embracing the reform and opening-up policies in 1978, China was typically dualistic society where a hard and fast line was drawn between countryside and city. But after that, as a result of the success of reform in rural places, a great many of surplus labor has been produced. In the mean time, industrial reform and urbanization needed new labor. In consequence, the household registration system began to release and peasants entered into cities continuously from then on.

On the one hand, they separated themselves from the statue of peasants. On the other hand, they are not formal worker and citizen of the urban in that the special title – peasant workers has coming out.

Although there is no official statistics about the number of peasant workers in China, the amount would be extremely colossal from various researches. But it never goes too far to access the contribution than made by peasant workers for this country’s economy. It could be concluded that they are the main body of the second wave of industrialization and urbanization since the reform and opening-up policies have been carried out. They provide exceedingly cheap labor for the globalization, industrialization and urbanization of China.

It is precisely from this point of view, some economists acknowledge that peasant workers are the main factor that China obtains the strongest completion world wide.

It also revealed in the aspect of politics in recent years the importance of peasant workers in the process of economic of China. As the rights of them are often being violated, the government seeks to guarantee their interests through the new law of employment contracts. At the same time, the official bodies begin to provide systematic way allowing them express their opinions and interests.

The hidden trouble of institutionalizing peasant workers

For example, the representatives of peasant workers appealed in National Party congress while the number is very small, as well as the proportion. It means the peasant workers assume the airs of ‘constituency’ or functional community. In other words, the overall trend is making it institutionalized for this social group.

However, the institutionalization of peasant workers will be a long-term pain to China or even with countless hidden trouble. If that becomes real, the community of China will change from dualistic society to three-component society, which is urban, countryside and peasant workers who are between them.

The peasant worker system is not accord with the demand of productivity development. In most of the industrialized countries nowadays and in the transformation of the process from conventional dualistic society to industrialized society, the development of economic and urbanization required the peasants becomes the modern citizen. At the same time, industrialization and urbanization effectively absorbed the peasants shifted from rural places.

Since the Chinese economic reform, the industrialization and urbanization of China is absolutely unrivaled. Nevertheless, the speed of absorbing peasants is quite slow. It is not the problem of the ability to do so, but the peasant workers system.

As every aspect of the system fail to concern about the peasant workers, it leads to the discrimination on behalf of the system. In other words, if the peasant workers system is not abolished, the productive forces of this huge social group cannot be liberated.

In recent years, government of China promotes the socialist new countryside policy, which shows the determination to solve the issues of agriculture, farmer and rural area. But it is absolutely not means to induce them back to home. To thoroughly solve this issue, it has be depending on industrialization and urbanization to reduce the peasants. 

Mo Luo: How to recover two animal-head sculptures – a rabbit and a rat in Yuanmingyuan

In October 1860 British and French troops set ablaze Yuanmingyuan, or the Imperial Summer Palace, and plundered and scattered its treasures. Now a planned Paris sale of two animal-head sculptures will take place which is raising a broad attention in China.

In this background, Liu Yang, who heads 67 volunteer lawyers, said the group is preparing a lawsuit to block the February sale of the two bronzes. But ironically, in a long time there is not even one government body taking part in this act of litigation that guarding the national dignity. 

Is that because Chinese officials do not have enough sovereignty consciousness and moral basis? Absolutely not, the National Heritage Board representatives have already strongly condemned this act of auction. A hundred years ago, Victor Hugo had also claimed that the aggressor should purge their souls of sin and revert the treasures to plundered China.

Furthermore, we can have some grounds for recovering the plundered treasures in accordance with International Law. Otherwise, Amadou M’Bow, Director General of UNESCO, in 1978, issued a “Plea for the Return of an Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage to Those Who Created It”, which claimed that “One of the most noble incamations of a people’s genius is its cultural heritage, built up over the centuries by the work of its architects, sculptors, painters, engravers, goldsmiths and all the creators of forms, who have contrived to give tangible expression to the many-sided beauty and uniqueness of that genius… The men and women of these countries have the right to recover these cultural assets which are part of their being.” Moreover, the Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects assembled in 1995 also regulated in the first clause of Article 3 that “The possessor of a cultural object which has been stolen shall return it.” Apparently, all of these proposals form an important basis of International Law for us to reclaim the treasures.

Since there are so many bases that can be quoted as evidence, why not the government steps forward bravely to recover these national treasures? Then what obstacles actually happened that block the way of Chinese and the government?

Indeed the barrier is do existed, which the regulators took precautions to set it up all from the beginning. 

In the meantime that the Unidroit Convention make it a rule that “The possessor of a cultural object which has been stolen shall return it”, the third clause in the same Article stated that “Any claim for restitution shall be brought within a period of three years from the time when the claimant knew the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor, and in any case within a period of fifty years from the time of the theft”. – Why dose such restricted clause included in the convention?

Let’s count the dates instead. The Second World War ended in 1945, when the large-scale colonial acts were on its last legs. The control of western big powers to the whole world had decreased that they had to withdraw from the colonial countries. Therefore the massive robbery and stolen of treasures in the form of colonial and war methods had been brought to an end finally.

It’s exactly 50 years form 1945 to 1995. It means all the countries and districts that been plundered and stolen do not have the right to reclaim their treasures back.

In the recent 100 years, all the game rules of the international society were set by westerns which, apparently, safeguard their own interests. As a result, China is still beset with difficulties to recover thousands of treasures just depending on that Unidroit Convention under such an international structure.

Then we can understand why it isn’t convenient for the Chinese government entering into judicial process as to the auction of the two animal-headed sculptures after having the knowledge of this international background. However, the Chinese government issued a statement that the state owns the undoubted sovereignty of them which is very necessary. Besides, the government should support and encourage the civil organizations making various negotiations with the relevant bodies of western in order to impress the western societies with our position of upholding the heritage sovereignty.

Article by Mo Luo, Associate Researcher of Chinese National Academy of Arts

 

 

Some references:

Victor Hugo condemned the action of the British and French in an open letter: “One day two robbers broke into Yuanmingyuan. One pillaged, while the other set fire to it… After filling their pockets to the full with their spoils, they returned to Europe hand in hand all smiling… We Europeans think that we are civilized and that the Chinese are barbarian. Yet this was what we civilized people did to the barbarians… The two robbers’ names are France and England.”

 

“Plea for the Return of an Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage to Those Who Created It”

http://www.unesco.org/culture/laws/pdf/PealforReturn_DG_1978.pdf

Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/uni-cultural-obj.txt

Will you leave Beijing to Shanghai?

Every morning you get up, listening to the music on the way to wok, consulting with colleagues at place of work, and shopping after that with friends, getting ready for the dinner; you’ve already been familiar with every street of this city, and you even enjoy the same dialect. In addition, you devote part of your salary to this city’s finance in the form of tax. You have lived in this city for a long time that makes you feel you’ve already integrated into this society. Until you need to buy a house, children need to go to school or join the entry examination to the college…you just find that there is a grate gap between you and the citizen of the city, as you are not the registered permanent residence here. 

Then you complain again and again for the unfair consequence brought by domicile system of China. You claim that you are no difference to the permanent residence here – imposing the same obligation like paying the tax, consuming, charity, and being as a volunteer, but why you’re not qualified to enjoy the same treatment You inquired the relevant office and got the answer that it’s not the right time to release the domicile management, or the city would be over-expanded that will bring extremely inconvenience to the government. 

But in fact, you can clearly experience that the problem of domicile is basically not about management, but concerns about fair. Have you often think of the hereditary system of hierarchy in the old society is very much alike today’s domicile system? Your rural household registration is ‘hereditaried’ from your parents serving as peasants. If you are not able to change it to the city household registration, your next generation will inherit this status, which means your status would not change with your intelligence and hard work but the property of the household register. 

In the early days of the founding of this country, the original intention of China’s household registration system was did to limit the flow of population in order to a convenient management. However, the migrating of people has already been a general tendency of this society, for example, there are 150 million migrant workers move from rural districts to cities every year. But it neitherr brought any trouble to the government nor lead to social chaos. So the key point of household registration system, as pointed out by Takung Newspaper, was not the free flow of the population, but the ‘equal right’. 

Fair and Freedom are soul of the market economy. Although the freedom of migration is out of question, the shadow of fairness has always lingered in this society. Until the reform scheme of domicile system of Shanghai has been coming out, it broke through the shadow with a crack. It is reported in the Time Weekly that Shanghai would take the lead in becoming flexible on household registration and it will first carry out in Pudong New District that allowing temporary residence permit holder transfer to the formal household registration. So finally, after so many years’ appealing on the reforming of this system without any response, Shanghai becomes the first to step forward to turn to the fairness.

Social justice is sometimes forced by extremely urgent. Given that the development of economic needs more and more talented person and the competition becomes much intense than before, plus the value of hi-tech products are set to soar because of the financial crisis, only release the household registration system, people with ability can be kept and attract more intelligent person from other parts of the country, in order to keep the economy and society developing continually. And this reform does give a stable expectation to talented foreigners in Shanghai. 

Won’t you feel rejoice if you just have lived in Pudong New District for a long time? Will you see a piece of hope if you stay in Shanghai? However, what if you live in Beijing as mentioned in the first part of this article? Will you leave Beijing to Shanghai? Furthermore, will Shanghai worry that a great many of people pour into this city after setting such a precedent?

The thought of ‘prohibiting instead of managing’ lead to De Jiang Dagon Dance Scandal

On the 8^th February, the De Jiang country government of Gui Zhou Province prohibited the Dragon Dance activity in the main town for the reason of ‘safety factor’. Then some of performers who were not comprehended gathered the audiences encircling the country government and a conflict with government stuff took place. After the incidence, Shi Zongyuan, Secretary of Gui Zhou provincial Party committee, required immediately that an effect arrangement and dredge were necessary to guarantee the Lantern Festival safe and harmonious. Through negotiation with each party, the country government agreed that the mass could launch the Dragon Dance safely and well-ordered according to the routine in former years.

This news remind us some related fable about “the prediction achieved by itself”: While the government department afraid of the “unsafe factors”, they strangled it in the cradle, nevertheless, these “unsafe factors” knock the door unexpectedly.

Similar news is not rare to read. In the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in 2006, since the Ying Tan city of Jiang Xi province worried that the dragon boats activities got attracted by too many gathering audience which might lead to accidents or conflicts, the government just decided to ban the activities and destroyed all the dragon boats. The custom handed down from thousands of years ago was ended without any regret. While the complaints were heard everywhere, it also cost the local government nearly two million yuan.

The prohibition does not mean safety, but a well-management can reach a good order. It is not hard to found that the same thought of ruling in the news described above, which is “fear + prohibition”, or saying, the fear is the reason for prohibiting. Therefore, the meaningful public management is far from enough. Obviously, this is a Utopian dream – prohibition is a solution that holds good for all time, which could remove the hidden peril. However, in fact as the government lack of the intelligence of management, the situation presenting after this simple thought is like solving one problem only to find another cropping up – a temporary conscious gets a long term complaint in return, which is apparently the loss outweighs the gain.

Logically speaking, people hustling and bustling all around dose not means making trouble and gathering together doesn’t equal to disturbance. Public entertainment is a social right. The key point of how to utilize this power is how the society carrying out an effectively self-management and the government’s regulating such as stopping the activities before going too far, rather than all troubles ending when the main trouble ending just because of the fear of hidden peril. For example, whenever it comes to the end of the year, it also exist some hidden danger for transport during the Spring Festival period. So why don’t the department of government requiring banning or cancel the Spring Festival? The actual cause is that the official and general people share a common sense – people need to celebrate the Spring Festival and it’s the government’s responsibility to hold it well.

In the same way, after the De Jiang country government providing all sorts of convenience and safeguard, the expecting safe problem never happened. It shows that when accessing whether a society is rich and populous, not only depending on whether there is a contention of a hundred schools of thought, but more importantly, determined by if people are able to choose what they want in the given condition and any conducts can be found in the aspect that the government guaranteeing this right of people. 

The reporter of Xinhua News Agency saw at De Jiang country yesterday noon that there were a large number of people from all directions watching the dragon dance and the sound of firecrackers had never stopped. This fact also disproof that the thought of ‘prohibiting instead of managing’ is apparently not the best way out, and what the government should do is to detail the management and service consciousness. 

Today, in the name of culture diversity various parts of the world do the utmost to protect their local conditions and customs. As to China, it has a universal appeal that in recent 30 years the traditional culture has recovered with the growing of the society. But if the government just prohibits everything for trying to simplify matters when doing the management, the consequence must be not only the lost of the conventional culture, but the life either. In fact, through the conflict describe above, the so called ‘safe’ is already far from its real sense. 

The Sanlu Group Case Tests the Judicial System of China

At the end of 2008, the China’s milk-adulteration scandal finally entered into the judicial process after its first exposure half a year ago, with four courts and 20 suspects been brought to trial, in which including Ms. Tian Wenhua, the 66 year-old former board chairwoman and general manager. At this special situation, Ms. Tian and her Sanlu Group is the victim of the whole food security system. They are both evil and sufferer of the potential rules of China Dairy Industry. And now, they are pushed into the centre of the court.

In this criminal jurisdiction with most broad attention, people pay close attention to what kind of crimes and punishments will be acquired by the suspects, and more importantly, what kind of roles the government, judicial authority and public opinion will play in this judicial activity.

THREE CHARGES

It is said in the indictment of Shi Jia Zhuang procuratorate that the lawsuits brought this time are just first set of cases in the whole. There are 3 types in 20 suspects: the first one is that Zhang Yujun and other 5 suspects produced and sold melamine mixture which is deemed as the chief criminals in this toxic baby milk scandal that shock the country. It is them who created the special ‘protein powder’ that becoming the resource of this public disaster. However, in perspective of some Article specialists, it still exist some problems when investigating the penalty for them, because the melamine itself is poison-free or slightly poisonous by itself, so it is hard to declare them guilty only for their producing behaviour.

It is reported that World Health Organization (WHO) is doing the research on the toxicity of melamine and it already gets into the animal test procedure, but the clear definition still cannot be obtained before the final report comes out. At last, the judge invoked Article 115 that crime of endangering public security by dangerous means to investigate the 6 suspects’ responsibility, which means they could be sentenced to death at highest.

The second type is Geng jinping and other 9 people added the melamine mixture into the original milk and sold to Sanlu Group Ltd. At the court, the objection of them been accused was the least. So the prosecutor required the judge investigate the responsibilities by the crime of producing, selling poisonous food that the highest penalty could be death. According to the huge amount of toxic milk sold out and seriously consequence, these ten small business people may become the most possible man that been sentenced to death in this case.

The third type is the crime of Sanlu Group and its person in charge, which are the most followed with interests by the public and with most objection as well. In the court, Tian Wenhua’s personal lawyer Mr. Liang Zikan did the “plead no guilty”, he believed that all the evidence that provided by the public prosecutor is apparently not enough to constitute the crime accused to Sanlu group or Ms Tian Wenhua and other defendants. Furthermore, the responsibility the Sanlu Group should afford is civil remedy, rather than that for crime.

In Mr. Liang Zikan’s defend suggestion, the strongest point is that there is no authoritative organization making the conclusion examination and maintaining that the milk powder made by Sanlu was the only brand that has been linked to infant illnesses or even death. Otherwise, in the period of the public prosecutor being accuse the crime behavour, melamine has not been listed as the item that must be tested in Diary regulated by the country, neither the testing standard which has not been released until 7^th October 2008. Adding Melamine into milk powder is the potential rules known by almost the whole Diary Industry. In the following testing, almost all of the famous well-known brands, involving Yili, Mengniu, were tested out containing melamine. Therefore, is it all due to Sanlu milk powder for as large as the amount of 3 hundred thousand sufferers? This is indeed an very arduous task of collecting evidences. In fact, Sanlu afford the responsibility for an offence for the potential rule of this industry, and Ms Tian seems more like to be a victim for the whole food security administration and supervision system.

For this reason, the prosecutor did not bring its suit to the court using the original ‘crime of manufacturing or selling toxic or harmful foodstuff” but the ‘crime of manufacturing or selling fake and inferior products’ which is more broad and ordinary. And the key different here is that the highest judgment of the former is the death sentence, while that of the latter one life sentence. It also means as the main person in charge of the institute crime, Ms Tian can keep alive at least. In the mean time, Professor Chen Zhonglin, who is famous criminal law specialist and Dean of Faculty of Law of Chongqing University, considered that it is rational to bring a suit by the crime of manufacturing or selling fake and inferior products, because although Ms. Tian and other defendants were fully aware that the melamine cannot be used as food addictive, they went on manufacturing milk powder inclusive of this material. However, as melamine is poison free or slightly poisonous by itself, and it cannot do any harm to human body if not been mix with, almost all the countries had not work out a criteria about the lowest content before then. So it is hard to maintain the crime of manufacturing or selling toxic or harmful foodstuff.

Responsibility of Government

Before the last day of 2008, 20 defendants had been brought to the trial. In fact, with opening a court session for the first time, the queries have never broken off, one of which is that why there is not even one person in charge of government supervision department been investigated responsibilities.

Except direct responsible departments like State Food and Drug Administration and Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, in the detail of Sanlu case published by the court, the some other government departments took part in this event as well. The crime procedure of Sanlu suited by the prosecutor is from 1^st August 2008 when the test report confirmed that the Sanlu milk powder was polluted by melamine to 12^th September when compelled to cease the manufacture and selling.

When Mr. Liang Zikan defended for Mrs. Tian Wenhua, he disclosed the whole process: in the second day of the problem discovered, which is 2ed August, Sanlu Group submitted a written report to the government of the city of Shi Jiazhuang that informed the situation that milk powder been polluted by melamine accurately, and earnestly requested the government making an appearance to order some related offices to investigate and deal with accordingly those illegal milk station operator. Accordingly, the government of the city of Shi Jiazhuang sent the vice major and assistant secretary-general to Sanlu Group in person in the same day. They fully affirmed the decision of the company board but fail to order the production stopped.

On the 20^th August, Mrs Tian Wenhua reported to the government in oral, followed by the second round in written, in which not only reflected accurately about the children being ill, but earnest requested the government to report to a higher body. But no agreement had been received.

“In terms of Criminal Law, there are the suitable accusation and judicial procedure in law to investigate the criminal responsibilities of concerned government department in this case.” said by Vice Professor Zhen Heyu, criminal law specialist of South China Normal University. However, Zhen also admitted that although there over 20 regulations about Dereliction of Duty in Chapter 9 of the Criminal Law listing the relevant penalties on health, environment protection, inspection and forestry for the related government departments, correspondent judicial precedents are seldom to meet, as a result, it is hard to find a case to describe the Dereliction of Duty in the real life.

On the standing conference of the State Council on 17^th September 2008, Premier Wen Jiabao has required that the related parities and person must be investigated firmly and seriously. Until then, Li Changjiang, who was head of General Administration of Quality Supervision, had already took the blame and resigned, as well as Wu Xianguo, the Secretary Municipal Committee of the CPC of Shi Jiazhuang and the Major Ji Chuntang, Vice Major Zhang Fawang etc.. After all, from the perspective of disciplinary sanction, it is quite severe to deal with the toxic milk powder scandal. However, “the disciplinary sanction is not equal to the responsibility for a crime. Although the procedural of investigating the responsibilities for crime aimed at government official has not started at present, it cannot rule out this possibility to continue investigating the law responsibilities.” Said by Chen Zhonglin, who also suggested that as for Sanlu case, it is totally possible to investigate the crime of dereliction of duty of some person in charge and he believed that judicial authority will make correspondent decision after ascertain the facts.

Public Opinion and Law

It still exists in such major case that the information disclosure is deficient and the judicial process is not transparent, which are the drawbacks inherent in the administration of justice of China. Xu Zhiyong is a lawyer of the Open Constitution Initiative, which is a commonwealth law organization based in Beijing. He and other volunteer lawyers have been taking action for the Sanlu Tainted Milk Case and entrusted for the responsibilities from over 220 sufferers’ parents from 20 provinces. On 8^th December, Xu Zhiyong started legal proceedings against Sanlu Group to the High Court of He Nan Province. “They haven’t made a statement yet, just revealed that being in research,” said by Xu Zhiyong.

When it later transpired that the court of Shi Jiazhuang would hear this case publicly, they took the criminal proceeding combined with civil procedure to the intermediate people’s court of Hebei province. However, it hasn’t accepted and hears the case yet; furthermore, Xu Zhiyong and the victims even were not allowed to join the trial at that day. It caused a consequence that the public were wanting in the knowledge in detail of the trial, and three utterly different accusations mentioned at last make the justice of China face the criticize that ‘take little, but have to operate on the position of eminent relent’ again. As a result, numerous media and netizen query that why not suing the Sanlu Group by the crime of manufacturing or selling toxic food?

Tian Wenhua was brought to the trial promptly at the end of 2008 is deemed as putting down the popular indignation, making an explanation to the public, however, what is exactly the public opinion? Although the final result has not come out, the divergence between the public opinion and the law can be seen dimly. And such situation should be quite familiar with Chinese people, from Liu Yong case in north-east in 2003 to Xu ting case short time before, and then today’s Tian Wenhua’s trial. Among these criminal cases with great public effect, the conflict between public mind and law is common occurrence.

Li Xinquan, a farmer of Runan country in Henan Province, whose 8 months daughter is one of the victims of this toxic milk scandal and been ill in August and died at 10^th September, said to the media that he thought it would not be enough to sentence Tian Wenhua to death from his heart as a lot of baby died because of them, but after a hesitation, he supplemented that they still trusted the court decision.

“In fact, if the pubic has an efficient knowledge of the fact, the masses a reasonable,” said by Chen Zhonglin. It has also been proved by some sufferers met by the reporters that most of them still trust the law. Therefore, compared to several years ago, the spirits of democracy have already been deep in people’s heart. As to the relationship between law and the public mind, Chen Zhonglin has more profound thought: “there should not have been some gap, even though the law needs to reach a compromise to the public opinion, since the law is originally the expression of public’s will.” He also said that the gap often happens for two reasons. First is information dissymmetry which makes the general public be not able to obtain complete information; The second is in some condition the opinion of authorities do no professional. Take Xu Ting case for example, after the first judgment, most of the general people thought it’s abnormal re-sentencing, but almost no experts thought of combining with the regulations of general provisions of criminal law to explain this problem. So it can be said that most of our people can make the right judgment provided that they have knowledge of the true fact. So the change in original sentence is not the humiliation of the law, instead the law experts should thank to the public opinion for that vivid lesson that only to be reasonable can we understand the law system correctly and adhere to the law cardinal principles.

The Test of Judicial System

As to those sufferers who trust the law, it is doubtable at present that what kind of practical problem can be solved by the law. While Tian Wenhua and other 20 suspects were brought to the trial, Li Xinquan ran into snags and be foiled at Bureau of Health of his native place and the court. He wish he could get the compensation for the baby’s death, as the amount of 30000 yuan paid for the medical fee was borrowed from villagers. And the government has put forward a compensatory scheme as well: 200000 yuan for the death, 30000 yuan for patients with severe and 2000 yuan for the general patients 

When it comes to year 2009, over 20 provinces has already started the compensation scheme accordance with national unified provisions. However, Li Xinquan is not in this range. ‘when I went to Bureau of Health for the money, they said there were no compensation for the death before 11^th September at the moment, which classified as the specific case.’ Li Xinquan said. Then Under the suggestion of the lawyer, he went to the Country Court to suit Sanlu Group, but the answer is not put on record without any reason. Ironically, His baby died on 10^th September, just a day before the government announced the Toxic Milk Powder Scandal officially. ‘Is that means there nothing I can do?’ Li Xinquan asked the reporter unceasingly.

‘In the situation of Li Xingquan, he still needs to get her compensation through judicial channels,” said by Professor Ma Changhua, well-known Tort Law specialist and professor of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. At present, all the compensation were achieved by administrative means which can assemble various resources promptly and with higher effective comparing to judicial channel, but cannot be substitute for. So far the amount of victims and compensation are only the result of administrative effect, and it must be unreasonable places,

The announced amount victims are nearly three hundred thousand, but it is hard to count up the sufferers like Li Xinquan who were left out of the statistics to dates. The trial of Sanlu Group just means the beginning of the aftermath of the incident of the Toxic Milk Powder Sandal. Such a huge public crisis cannot be resolved in several months, or even years. In 1955, Japan also happened similar case which is Morinaga milk powder toxic scandal, where the judicial procedure had continued for 20 years and the compensation problem has not been not ended till today.

However, Mr Chuanghua also suggested that a lot of difficulties will be faced on the way to judicial channel, especially to the individual defendant; the toughest thing is collecting the proof that can prove the baby drinking the Sanlu milk powder all the time instead of other brands, and it is extremely hard to obtain the certified proof. As to Li Xinquan, at the moment all the proof is just three empty bag of Sanlu milk powder. ‘We are contracting other Tort Law experts to have a relevant seminar wishing bring out a complete opinion letter to our bit for the final solution.’ Ma Changhua said. Once the compensation suits are brought to the judicial procedure, a huge number of cases will be faced by judicial authorities in different places. So they hoped the highest court could give a example that can be quoted for other similar cases.

In terms of justice system of China, if it keeps close its door to the victims to bring their suits, it will greatly weaken the trust of the public to the authority of justice. But if it open that door, a series of unprecedentedly difficulties will appear. After all, this melamine milk powder scandal will test the justice of China for a long time and it’s just the beginning. 

The system reform providing for the aged of shiye danwei keeps up with that of enterprises, and the pension will reduce sharply.

Ms. Chen Lihua, who works for a school in Guangdong province for over 30 years, will retire on schedule on May this year; however, she is fidgeting about whether she should apply for an early retirement at present.

On the 28^th December of last year, when she start work in the morning, a friend who worked together told her that a reform of pension for all the shiye danwei in Guangdong province may carried out in 2009. And this information made Ms. Chen feel worried, because she should have been qualified a retirement pay of 1300 yuan per month according to the policy at that time. But once calculating the pension through the new way, there will be a sharp reducing of it.

In fact, the system reform of pension of shiye danwei at selected plot has been issued formally, including Shanxi province, Shanghai, Zhejiang province, Guangdong province and Chongqing. Yesterday, Mr. Yi Chengji, official spokesperson of Human Resources and Social Security Department (HRSSD), told China Business News that the State Council of China required the five selected provinces starting this reform from this year. He also indicated that it could also bring out the system of enterprises and shiye danwei dovetail. And the scheme would focus on the problem of the big gap of pension between these two types of institutes.

Heavy load on finance

One of the principle reasons that push the government reform the pension and security system is the heavy load on finance, which is due to the fast rising salaries, and the great number of employees in the recent years. Until the end of 2005, the shiye danwei was amounting to 1.25 million, dealing with a wide range of fields such as education, agriculture, radio and TV channels, and press and publication. The total number of employess had been already over 30 million, which is 4.3 times as civil servants, taking up nearly 80% of number of people that provided by the government. Besides, the total amount of pension that supported by government was only 5.95 billion yuan in 1990, but now it far exceeds hundred of billion which is over 20 times.

In the mean time, it shows that the earning difference of retirees from enterprises and shiye danwei is in a trend of widening. Although the basic pensions for retirees from enterprises is marking up continuously, the average number which amount to 1080 yuan is still far below that of shiye danwei’s standard.

It is reported that the new scheme at the selected spots will be identical to the enterprises; therefore, it would lead to a lower treatment to the shiye danwei employees with no doubt. 

ps. shiye danwei means nonprofit units that have no administrative, allocative, or regulatory authorities beyond their own organizational boundaries, such as newspapers, research institutes, and hospitals.

Railway Ministry: the identification system for train ticket may cause serious traffic jam

The Railway Ministry held the second press conference for transport during the Spring Festival period on 15th Jan. 2009. Mr. Zhang Shuguang, who is Assistant Chief Engineer of the Railway Ministry and Secretary for Transport, introduced the forceful measures that being used to respond to the peak time for passenger transport.

He said, in the recent periods of transportation around the Spring Festival, the view of identification system for train ticket has been put forward, which means the ID card will be checked when passengers enter into the station. In my opinion, although the starting point of this view is positive, it would be necessary to consider if this is feasible through seriously research. I know that there are some transport departments have adopted the measure that using ID card buying tickets and checking in, in which the point of departure is on the safe side. However, it is still questionable that whether the railway transportation is qualified to carry out in the same way.

First of all, the transport capacity will not be strengthened after this system been adopted. At the moment, there is a big contradiction between transport capacity and freight volume, where the freight volume is far from enough. As a result, if that identification system had been accepted now, it would be no doubt that the work load of redundancy procedures will be increased. For example, there are over 280 trains at Beijing West Railway Station every day and two hundred thousand passengers at peak time. Besides, the train will be sent out every five minuets. Generally speaking, there are around 2000 passengers in one train, where only 30 minuets would be needed for the whole work of checking in. But if we add the procedure of checking the ID card to every passenger, assuming 2 seconds being cost per card, nearly another one hour will be raised for this process which originally been thought to be tense.

Secondly, the railway is the most common way of public transport. In the train station with limited volume, if we check the ID card in the mean time when people get into the station, it will result in a large assembly for parts of passengers. Not only a seriously block-up will happen at station square, booking office and entrance and exit area, many unsafe factors my bring out as well, such as stampede when the volume of passengers is large and the consequence is unbearable to recall.

Last but not least, it would be inconvenient to both passengers and station staffs. For instance, the booking-office clerks have to type the ID number and name into computer which means more amount of work. Therefore, the principle reason that we still not adopt this system is due to unsuccessful hardware, including construction of railway net, more advanced technology that could be used at buying tickets and check in procedure.

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the picture shows people waiting to buy the tickets -_-;