Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is stressing
his nation needs to put a stronger
emphasis on the rule of law
he told representatives at the National
People's Congress the government will
make it a priority
we will govern in accordance with the
Constitution and other laws and bring
all government work in line with the
rule of law he used the word law about
40 times during his address but one
expert says the term has a different
meaning in the country and he says
President Xi Jinping faces a tough
challenge proving China is a law
governed nation some good I want to
stress that China's concept of the rule
of law is unique it's completely
different from that of Western nations
professor her weifeng of taking
university is an authority on China's
judicial system as a legal scholar he is
known for his straightforward opinions
even when it comes to commenting on the
country's regime he has more than one
and a half million followers on Weibo
the Chinese version of Twitter and his
remarks constantly draw the attention of
people in China and overseas dong how
are you fine the Chinese Communist Party
is considered as a body that transcends
the lawsuit legal revisions and
proposals are carried out it with a
command of the party the party can
revise the Constitution or other laws as
it wishes some debate the party plays a
key role in the judiciary every court
contains a group of official communist
party representatives presiding judges
served concurrently as party secretary
direct the courts in their capacity as
party representatives and they also make
decisions
professor her thinks that behind she's
moved to promote the rule of law is a
sense of crisis on the part of the
authorities
they are concerned that the growing
diversity of Chinese people's values
could undermine the legitimacy of the
Communist Party
don't war realities China Neela what
good reasons to convince its people that
the country should stick to the current
system the Communist Party cannot rely
on ideological slogans anymore it needs
a new way to appeal to the people I
think it sees the rule of law as a new
theory it can use to justify its
existence
literally for China the law is a tool to
secure power and govern its people it
has never been a tool intended to limit
the party's power it means avenging I
don't think President Xi actually wants
to lead the country to become a society
governed by the rule of law in any real
sense that's probably the furthest thing
from his mind her reminds us of China's
repeated persecution of liberal lawyers
and academics as an example he cites the
case of dishabille
a human rights activist a Nobel Peace
Prize winner who has been imprisoned
since 2009 for allegedly inciting state
subversion Sinde used a kite up do you
call them the government leaper has been
tightening control over the ideology of
academics to say users in that country
we've been putting pressure on us to
resist the Western concept of law ah ha
ha I myself have recently received
several warnings of ami from
state-affiliated media what did that
kind of beating soil RIA thora teas have
just declared that they will govern the
country and well according to the
constitution and law as a law professor
I intend to put forward a concrete
definition of rule of law from an
expert's perspective and most
importantly I'm determined to point out
the authority's mistakes the big
question is whether China
be able to develop into a country that
is governed by law her says it is
difficult to predict future developments
but he will continue to express his
opinions candidly