Judicial Reform Coming to China! International Community Elated!

April 1: This morning, China’s Minister of Justice Wu Aiying held a press conference in which she declared the need for greater judicial transparency. The announcement came in the wake of a decision involving four executives of the mining corporation Rio Tinto, who were accused of bribery and stealing trade secrets. The defendants were sentenced to 7-14 years in prison, including 10 years for Australian Stern Hu.

“There are important questions about due process raised by this case,” Ms. Wu commented, “particularly since large parts of the case were heard behind closed doors.”

Ms. Wu announced that she intended to introduce a broad set of reforms to the Chinese justice system, which would greatly strengthen the principles of judicial impartiality, transparency, and fairness.

“If we are able to pass these reforms, after rigorous debate in the People’s National Congress, it will be a great step forward for the cause of justice in China.”

She also noted that tendency of Chinese courts to give exceptionally harsher sentences to those who plead not-guilty (leading to nearly universal pleas of guilty, as in the Rio Tinto case) goes against the principle that a defendant should be presumed innocent. She expressed concern that such cases as these were hurting the reputation of China’s justice system internationally.

Several high-profile international cases had indeed strained relations between China and various Western countries recently. China’s execution on December 29, 2010 of British citizen Akmal Shaikh for drug trafficking, despite emphatic pleas from the British government to consider the defendant’s mental incapacity, drew sharp criticism from British politicians, as well as from Amnesty International. A spokesman from Britain’s Foreign Ministry today welcomed Ms. Wu’s comments.

“During the Akmal Shaikh case, we began to be concerned that China didn’t have regard for procedural fairness in the criminal law,” the official chuckled; “looking back, it seems silly now!” Asked whether he had continuing concerns about China’s justice system, a spokesman for British opposition leader David Cameron responded, “No, I think today’s announcement wraps everything up.” Even Philip Alston, a UN special rapporteur who had earlier described China’s treatment of Shaikh as a violation of international law has backed down, commenting: “Violating international law? What does that even mean!?”

The Shaikh case was not the only cause of friction between China and the West, however. The 11-year prison sentence given and recently upheld, to Liu Xiaobo—a democratic activist—for “incitement to subvert state power” originally brought condemnation from the U.S. and E.U. But in the wake of Ms. Wu’s announcement of reform, these positions were reversed.

“The Chinese government obviously wants to see justice done,” an anonymous E.U. official noted, “and they know what they’re doing, so I think we should just back off.”

A statement released on behalf of U.S. President Barack Obama stated: “On second thought, Liu Xiaobo was clearly guilty. I don’t even remember why we ever protested; if you break the law, you must pay the penalty. It’s not as if China is locking people up randomly without a trial or anything.”

Even Amnesty International has reversed its earlier call for China to increase transparency surrounding its use of the death penalty. A statement on the organisation’s website reads:

“The Chinese government’s announcement that China’s criminal justice system will be reformed to reinforce procedural fairness demonstrates its commitment to international standards of justice. We hereby request that our supporters cease calling for further reform. Click below to send a thank-you email to the Chinese government.”

The uniform praise from the international community has bolstered Ms. Wu’s standing within China, according to many commenters. Should her proposed reforms succeed, she may even consider a run for the Presidency at the next election.

For now, Ms. Wu can rest assured that her comments on the Rio Tinto case have reassured Western leaders – particularly in Australia, where officials had expressed concern about the tough sentence handed down to one of their citizens. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith[1] thanked Ms. Wu for her commitment to revisit the case:

“Once again, we’ve seen China’s commitment to the principles of freedom and justice. I don’t think we need to worry about Stern Hu’s fate anymore,” Smith declared. He went on to dismiss concerns that the proposed reforms won’t be acted upon.

“We have the Chinese government’s word on this – what more do you want? If they didn’t follow through, I think they’d look quite the fool.”

Transparency, here we come!