Sacrificing rule of law no price for economic stability

By Chinese media writer Wang Cong 　

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Chinese media) -- Had Guangdong Province had jurisdiction over

China's largest home electronics chain Gome, chairman Huang Guangyu, China's

richest person, might be spending his Lunar New Year holiday with his family --

rather than in police detention.

Beijing police detained the former street peddler, who owns a third of

Beijing-based Gome with estimated assets of 43 billion yuan (6.3 billion U.S.

dollars), for allegedly manipulating share trading, a charge being investigated

by the Ministry of Public Security.

Tycoons like Huang would suffer a different fate in Guangdong due to a new

policy issued by the provincial High People's Procuratorate on the "prudent

handling" of influential company owners who are suspected of breaking the law.

The rationale underlining the policy is that law enforcement should disrupt

businesses as little as possible during the global economic downturn.

The procuratorate, which is mandated to issue arrest warrants, in its Jan.

6 guideline orders law enforcement agencies to defer detaining or arresting

company representatives who are key to corporate management and business

operations, when they are accused of minor offenses.

The guideline also demands "police should prudently use such measures as

sealing up, impounding or freezing the assets of companies suspected of

illegalities, especially those currently in operational difficulty."

This policy is, inadvertently, creating loopholes to allow crooked magnates

to hide evidence of their wrongdoing.

It comes as concern grows over the health of China's export-oriented

economy. Many companies in Guangdong, a major export base, are struggling with

over capacity, which leads to unemployment.

Keeping jobs, and thus social stability, is a valid concern during hard

times. But is equality before the law to be the price for this stability?

The provincial procuratorate may have the best intentions in discreetly

dealing with violations "at a more proper time", but why sacrifice the principle

that everyone is equal before the law that legal authorities have been

advocating for decades?

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) states: "All

citizens of the PRC are equal before the law. Every citizen enjoys the rights

and at the same time must perform the duties prescribed by the Constitution and

the law."

Treating wealthy bosses, who understandably have more say on the regional

or national economic well-being, differently from ordinary people contradicts

the spirit of the Constitution.

The one exception to the principle, under Chinese law, is that the

detention, arrest and trial of legislators above county level should be

adjourned for approval of the legislatures.

A 1981 resolution of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's highest

legislature, states that only the Supreme People's Procuratorate can issue legal

interpretations concerning prosecution proceedings.

The supreme procuratorate and its subordinates are required by the law "to

investigate criminal activities, to bring lawbreakers to justice, to safeguard

the sanctity of the law".

For more than a decade, the government has advocated the rule of law, but

this is futile if equality is considered dispensable for social or economic

stability.

Huang Guangyu's detention has had little effect on Gome, which has

announced no job cuts, despite the economic downturn.