China Youth Daily published an article commenting on the “zero loss” records of local governments when they are defendants in lawsuits.
Since its opening on December 28, 2014, until the end of 2015, the Third Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court has handled a total of 610 administrative cases in the pilot phase that involved trials in administrative cases. This figure included 242 administrative cases in which the municipal people’s government was a defendant for the first time. Others were second instance administrative cases in which the municipal administrative organs were the appellant or appellee. As of now, the Shanghai municipal government has not yet suffered a single loss in any of its lawsuits.
The local governments that achieved “zero loss” were not limited to Shanghai. Late last year, the Legislative Affairs Office of Sichuan revealed that the provincial government was a defendant in 126 administrative cases [in 2015] and had a "zero loss" record.
The article commented that a government under the rule of law is not necessarily one with a "zero loss" record [in lawsuits]. Similarly, the dazzling "zero loss" record may not directly convey a positive signal to the public. In the process, the suppressed discontent, the injustice, and even the unfairness may very well result in the loss of the last appeal channel. The result might be silence, but [the problem is] that this silence might not completely disappear, especially when the situation continues and gives rise to new injustices. As a result, local governments do not have to consider "zero loss" as an achievement.
The reason why the people take on the local government as a defendant is not that they have got nothing better to do or because they want to embarrass the government deliberately. It is because the people regard the government as the final solution to the problem.
Source: China Youth Daily, January 20, 2016
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2016-01/20/nw.D110000zgqnb_20160120_4-02.htm