On January 21, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced that Zhang Zhanwei, the secretary of the CPC Jiyuan Municipal Committee in Henan Province, had been removed from his post for slapping people. The report said that Zhang Zhanwei slapped his subordinates in public, if true, in no way in line with the image of a leading cadres should have, but also reflects the play official authority and style of bullying, and so on. It sounds like the matter is not related to the law in China, and the rule of law in the West is different, in China hitting someone without causing serious injury is not a crime, while in the West it is a felony that will go to jail.
The picture shows two workers painting a Communist Party flag on the wall of the South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province.
The “secretary beating” incident was made public on the Internet and sparked a flood of comments. A blogger said that “Shang Juan beheaded the municipal party secretary” was a “suicide” report that was successful.
On January 16, “Jiyuan Shangjuan” sent out a 1,500-word long article on Weibo, reporting the process of Zhang Zhanwei, secretary of the Jiyuan Municipal Committee of Henan Province, slapping Zhai Weidong, secretary general of the municipal government, in front of a large audience.
“The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public. The secretary Zhang Zhanwei thought Zhai Weidong should not eat in the small stove restaurant and reprimanded him loudly. When Zhai Weidong intended to go forward to explain, he was slapped by Zhang Zhanwei.
Zhang Zhanwei (left), the violent supervisor in the “Slapgate” case, and Zhai Weidong, the victim.
The official website of the Central Committee of Political and Legal Affairs – “China Chang’an Network” posted an article saying: “Don’t be capricious when you have power, and be righteous when you are in politics. Leading cadres should take this as a warning, regardless of position, no matter what the occasion, must fear discipline and law, strictly restrain their words and actions …… (Zhang Zhanwei’s) this style and behavior is not allowed.”
The Xinhua Daily Telegraph said that the leading cadres in important positions, in public places, a disagreement on the big fight, too “hot eyes”, degrading, and people expect the image of leading cadres far away, the impact can be considered bad.
The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public. …… such a disregard for the dignity of others, slapping people’s brutal actions, are degrading, outrageous, in public morality first lost a stroke.
From the reports and comments of the official media, it seems that slapping and the law are not related.
Teng Biao, a Chinese human rights lawyer and now visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, told the Voice of America, “Under Chinese law, it is not a crime to slap someone if it does not cause some harm.”
Teng Biao said the municipal party secretary’s beating, if it only resulted in minor injuries, was an illegal act that would be dealt with in some way, such as administrative punishment, but not a crime. Crime refers specifically to the violation of the provisions of criminal law. Simply put, illegal is a violation of laws and regulations; criminal is a violation of criminal law. Hypothetically speaking, if the law says you can’t smoke on a high-speed train, and someone does, it’s a violation of the law, not a crime.
Veteran lawyer and current affairs commentator Wang Yuehui told the Voice of America, “Chinese legislation focuses on consequences. That is, in the law, we say one is a behavioral offense and one is a consequence offense. China emphasizes the result of the crime, hitting people without injury, or injury is very light, forget it; while the United States is the act of crime, as long as the act of hitting people constitutes a crime. So, the secretary slapped someone, did not lead to serious injury, in China is not a crime; but if in the United States, the action of hitting the other side of the body, is a crime, will be arrested, may also be prosecuted.”
Wang Yuehui said that under China’s legal framework, to use the law to punish this beating city clerk, you can start with the crime of insult; the victim can use character insult to report and file a case.
Lawyer Teng Biao also told Voice of America that slapping is a form of humiliation and leads to serious psychological consequences that may constitute a crime.
Humiliation is a crime, but slapping is not. A posting circulated on a WeChat group in recent days said that a woman in Guizhou was handcuffed and detained by police for calling a community branch secretary a “strawman branch secretary.
Teng Biao also believes that it is because Chinese law does not treat beating as a crime in itself that there is a widespread Perception in society that beating is okay, that it is okay for superiors to beat subordinates, adults to beat children, and husbands to beat their wives, that there is a trap of the strong beating the weak, and that there is a widespread mentality and Culture of bullying the weak.
Teng Biao said that in addition to the Chinese Communist Party officials being lawless and above the law, there is also the personalization of official power. In many places, there is no big difference between the power of the first and second in command, but in Chinese official culture, the first in command enjoys absolute power and is very domineering to those at a lower rank, while being subservient to the top, so the phenomenon of official slapping is endless. The most famous one is Bo Xilai’s slap; not only Bo Xilai to Wang Lijun, but Wang Lijun to his men as well. And this is all a manifestation of the poor quality totalitarian culture.
Some American netizens commented that in the United States it is the higher the official rank that is constrained, and not the other way around. Think about Trump, was a small journalist difficult, want to ban him into the White House, the lawsuit also lost; scandal his nude sculpture in the streets of Los Angeles, he can only pretend not to know; their own careless speech, Twitter account said banned on the ban, right or wrong first, at least power in the cage, in short, “has nothing to do with people, the system is the key. Trump replaced to the dynasty, will slap many people; Secretary Zhang replaced to the United States as arrogant can not.”
Another netizen said, “In the United States, beating people is a criminal offense. The legal definition is that as long as there is physical contact, whether it is a push or a shove, or to give a half-death, as long as there is physical contact, are crimes, to go to court, only minors hit people as well as adults in self-defense except …… do not think that Americans are born not to hit people, just because there is a criminal law this tight rope, know curb just.”
There is an analysis that there are fair and everyone has to abide by the rules of the game, for everyone, is both restraint and protection; whether it is for officials or people, with the restraint of the system is a guarantee.
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