Former China Supreme Court Judge Shines Light on Dark Judiciary

Former China Supreme Court Judge Shines Light on Dark Judiciary
Xie Weidong, a former judge at the Chinese regime's Supreme People's Court, in Toronto, Canada on Sept. 23, 2015. Zhou Xing/Epoch Times
Larry Ong
Journalist
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When Xie Weidong graduated with a Masters degree in 1984, it seemed as though the Chinese Communist Party was taking baby steps toward implementing the rule of law. That was under the rule of Deng Xiaoping, the Party’s former paramount leader, as China was rebuilding and modernizing in the wake of the Cultural Revolution.

But after seven years as a lawyer and nearly a decade as a high court judge, Xie Weidong quit in 2000, completely disillusioned with the judicial system and the communist regime.

Speaking to New Tang Dynasty Television and Epoch Times from his new home (since 2014) in Toronto recently, Xie shared vignettes of his time in the Chinese regime’s judicial system from the mid-1980s to 2000. His observations echo what Chinese rights activists have been saying for years about how the Chinese regime views the law—nothing more than a tool the Communist Party wields to advance and protect its interests.

Xie Weidong recalls an incident from his days as a lawyer that he felt was a truism of justice in communist China. A potential client walked into his law firm and asked the dozen or so lawyers present, “I am 100 percent certain I’m in the right, but what are my chances of winning?”

“Not one lawyer answered,” Xie said.

Xie Weidong, a former judge at the Chinese regime's Supreme People's Court, in Toronto, Canada, on Aug. 17, 2015. (Zhou Xing/Epoch Times)
Xie Weidong, a former judge at the Chinese regime's Supreme People's Court, in Toronto, Canada, on Aug. 17, 2015. Zhou Xing/Epoch Times
Larry Ong
Larry Ong
Journalist
Larry Ong is a New York-based journalist with Epoch Times. He writes about China and Hong Kong. He is also a graduate of the National University of Singapore, where he read history.
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