How a Chinese Official Used ‘Rule of Law’ to Get His Way

Though appealing to higher authorities is a time-honored practice from Imperial China, now it is little more than a piece of bureaucratic rhetoric.

People queue to get better numbers on a waiting list for new apartments after the local government announced the demolition of an old central part of Tongzhou, in the western suburbs of Beijing on April 8, 2010. STR/AFP/Getty Images

As a weeping Ms. Pan watched her home being razed to the ground, she begged Hua Guojun, the official ordering the demolition, to stop.

“If you have any complaints you can sue the government,” Hua replied with a smile.

Identified only by her surname, Ms. Pan is a businesswoman in Anhui Province in eastern China. She owned a bathhouse, which was destroyed to make room for developers, state-run Chinese newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily reported on June 18.

Hua Guojun, who stood at the site of the demolition, is an official with the local bureau in charge of handling appeals and petitions.

Chinese official Hua Guojun stands and laughs before Ms. Pan, while her house is demolished on June 18. Screenshot/Phoenix Television