According to VOA, an officer from the Suzhou Petition Office made some shocking remarks while being videotaped. The video then spread widely over the Internet, causing many heated discussions. A local businessman from the city of Suzhou encountered resistance when he went to the Petition Office to file a complaint against a land developer. During the argument, an officer from the Petition Office shouted, “If the policeman does not beat people up, then why do we have policemen?” One writer responded with an online post saying, “The official made a true statement. This has been on people’s minds, but no one has dared to speak up.” Another post commented, “This officer’s mentality is scary, but at least it was a true statement. It contains much more powerful information than the national news program that CCTV aired just 30 minutes ago.”
VOA called the Suzhou Petition Office to interview the officer, but the office declined the request. The office stated that they could not validate the legitimacy of the reporter’s status.
In interviews with VOA on this topic, people told VOA that many local legal departments have become thoroughly corrupt. Jiang Tianyong, a rights lawyer, told VOA that the official’s remarks reflect the reality in China, making the issue a social tragedy. Hu Xingdou, a China expert from the Beijing Institute of Technology, stated that the police force has a poor public image and has become a thug for the government.
Source: VOA, July 2, 2013
http://www.voachinese.com/content/suzhou-video-clip-20130702/1693378.html