The New York Times reported today on comments made by China’s top law and order official, Luo Gan, published in the journal Seeking Truth: “Enemy forces” are seeking to use China’s legal system to Westernize and divide the country, and the Communist Party must fend them off by maintaining its dominance over lawyers, judges and prosecutors, China’s top law and order official said in a detailed speech whose text was published Friday.
Politburo Standing Committee, said in an address…that judicial officials had the responsibility to “prevent infiltration that might threaten national security.”
Mr. Luo said that China is now part of the global community and that it must consider “international factors” when making judicial decisions. But he drew a sharp line between such interests and allowing greater leeway for lawyers, judges and prosecutors to make decisions independently as they do in the West.
“There is no question about where legal departments should stand,” Mr. Luo said. “The correct political stand is where the party stands.”
I can understand Luo Gan’s pickle. On one hand, one of the biggest challenges facing the central government is enforcement of existing statutes, especially those on the environment and those that, in theory at