A court fights for its independence

the Chongqing nailhouse

ESWN translates a great feature story in the Southern weekend that uses interviews with the main parties involved in this the cause of the Chongqing nail house, including Mrs Wu Ping. It is a great case study on change in China, but I want to stress one interesting element: the Jiulongpo district court director Zhang Li, is one of the main players in this drama.

He said that the pressure of the "nail house affair" was something "he had never encountered in forty years of living and may be a once-in-a-life-time thing."

Zhang Li had just started his job in this district on March 17 and got a crash course in media relations and discovered the power of the internet:

"At the time, I felt that it was a troublesome thing to deal with the media. I was afraid that I might say something wrong. I turned down media interviews. In retrospect, I can frankly say that I regret that." Almost a month later, he reflected to the reporter.

Zhang Li effectively refuses to join press conferences with the local government. He insists that his court should remain independent and throws himself into some arguments. He gets support:

As district party secretary, Zheng Hong recognized this. "In other countries, government officials and judges will not sit down together. But foreign reporters do not understand party leadership in China." In the end, the court held its own press conferences. Similarly, when the government held its own press conferences, the court did not participate.

Hectic scenes display at the government offices and many officials, including Zhang Li have sleepless nights. He has to oversee the negotiations, since his relative independence as a newcomer in the district. Chongqing was able to avoid a worst-case scenario.
Really worth to read the whole article.