BEIJING \u2013 China\u2019s top judge has drawn criticism from legal professionals after he dismissed the concept of judicial independence as an \u201cerroneous Western ideal,\u201d a statement seemingly aimed at emphasizing the ruling Communist Party\u2019s ultimate control over all areas of public life.
Zhou Qiang, the head of the Supreme People\u2019s Court, has at times been seen as a reformer keen on limiting the influence of government officials on the courts.
However, Chinese state media quoted him over the weekend as instructing leading judges to \u201cdraw your sword\u201d against words and actions running counter to the ruling Communist Party\u2019s dictates.
Since seizing power in 1949, the party has maintained strict control over the government, judiciary and China\u2019s highly influential military despite the rapid social change accompanying breakneck economic growth. Leaders in recent years have firmly rejected calls for political reform, crushing the 1989 prodemocracy movement and harassing and imprisoning advocates of change, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
Responding to Zhou\u2019s comments, Chinese legal scholars including Peking University professor He Weifang said the public would lose confidence in a legal system seen to be in thrall to the party.
\u201cIf there is no judicial independence, the ultimate result can only be injustice everywhere, sparking unrest. Calling judicial independence a Western concept and taking joy in its elimination is the sort of talk and action that leads to disaster for the nation and its people,\u201d He wrote.
Scores of lawyers also signed an open online letter calling for Zhou\u2019s resignation. The concept of judicial independence is not a Western concept, but one recognized around the world, the letter said, and Zhou\u2019s remarks attacking the concept had \u201ccaused an inevitable, harmful effect on Chinese society.\u201d
Despite his reform reputation, it was not the first time Zhou has criticized what he deemed to be ideas unsuitable for China\u2019s political system. In 2015, he told a party committee that the high court will \u201cresolutely resist the influence of mistaken Western concepts and ways of thinking.\u201d
China rejects the notion of an American-style separation of powers and its constitution emphasizes the unassailable primacy of the Communist Party. But the same constitution also calls for courts to exercise judicial power independently and be free from \u201cinterference by administrative organs, public organizations or individuals.\u201d
In his remarks, first reported Saturday by the state-controlled China News Service, Zhou also urged China\u2019s judges to avoid the \u201ctrap\u201d of judicial independence, follow the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and \u201cprotect government leaders, the image of heroes, and the glorious history of the party and the People\u2019s Army\u201d according to the law.
Following his ascension as party leader in 2012, President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of governing through laws and regulations, rather than official fiat. Yet, that is widely seen as merely an attempt to codify party dominance, and legal and political experts say that party leaders have not only maintained their grip over the courts but increasingly wield the legal system as a lever of power.
Xi has also demanded strict ideological conformity within the party and repeatedly cautioned against liberal Western values seeping into China\u2019s political sphere and the classroom. His administration rounded up dozens of lawyers and civil society activists in 2015, leveling state subversion charges against many, while cracking down on any criticism of the party or attempts to openly question its history.
Last year, intellectual circles were alarmed when a Beijing court convicted a writer of libel after he challenged the veracity of a famous tale of Communist Party soldiers sacrificing themselves against the Japanese.
Zhou\u2019s weekend meeting with top judges came weeks after the party\u2019s powerful anti-corruption agency wrapped up an internal investigation of the Supreme People\u2019s Court. Zhou, who has a master\u2019s degree in law and took over as chief justice in 2013, has previously criticized the judiciary for the prevalence of wrongful convictions and warned against the use of testimony obtained through torture.<\/p>\n