More than 100 city officials from across the country have condemned city administrators in Hubei province for beating a man to death earlier this month for filming a dispute between the administrators and residents.
The officials, who gathered in Beijing over the weekend, said in a statement that the act "trampled the law and violated human rights", the Procutorial Daily reported yesterday.
They called on city administrators, or chengguan, to improve their work practices and build a friendly, civilized public image.
The declaration by the officials, who run chengguan bureaus, followed the death of Wei Wenhua, the general manager of a construction firm in the city of Tianmen.
Wei was beaten to death by about a dozen chengguan staff on Jan 7 after he was discovered using a cell phone to film a confrontation between the administrators and villagers over the dumping of trash.
Chengguan carry out a wide range of quasi-law enforcement tasks, such as keeping illegal vendors and sellers of pirated goods off the streets, deterring beggars and turning away distributors of commercial leaflets.
The Tianmen incident caused widespread public condemnation. Many people have urged tough punishment for the offenders.
More than 100 people are under police investigation regarding the incident and four have been detained.
The case has also aroused nationwide concern over the management of vendors and the carrying out of duties by chengguan.
"Brutal law enforcement will face a dead end and only reasonable law enforcement will be welcomed by the people," the officials said in their declaration.
"We must firmly oppose brutal law enforcement and show more concern for the needs of the people."
Questions:
1. What happened on January 7?
2. Chengguan have quasi-law enforcement tasks. What are they?
3. Why has Wei’s death sparked concern across the country?
Answers:
1.Wei Wenhua was beaten to death by chengguan after they discovered he was using his cell phone to film a dispute between administrators and villagers over the dumping of trash.
2.Keeping illegal vendors off the streets and sellers of pirated goods off the streets, deterring beggars and turning away distributors of commercial leaflets.
3.People are concerned about the management of vendors and how chengguan carry out their duties.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
