According to a Chinese official speaking at a Communist Party conference last week, laws should be crafted that allow police to shoot “troublemakers.”
“Legislation should be made permitting the police to open fire at troublemakers, as police authority is now in decline,” said Liu Wei, a deputy of Guangzhou People’s Congress, while attending the Nanhai regional conference recently.
At the same conference, held in Foshan, Guangdong Province, another official compared the “common people” with spoilt children. A representative to the National People’s Congress, Fang Ming, said “The common folk should be taught, not provided for. It’s like if you spoil a child—could that be a good child? Spoiling the common people can also turn out troublemakers.”
The mayor of Shantou revealed a similar attitude in remarks made after protests late last year in Haimen, arguing that people who have been “influenced” by foreign media should be arrested.
Predictably the remarks were met with rebuke by activists and netizens, who charge that government officials should serve the taxpayers that pay their salaries, rather than abusing their power. “The real question is: what kind of well-being have they provided for people?” according to Shanghai activist Fang Zhenghu.
With files from New Tang Dynasty Television.
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