Against the backdrop of a widely spreading global economic crisis, coupled with the slowdown facing China's own economy, cases of fraud and corruption are becoming a daily occurrence. Cracking down on this cancer that is threatening state economic security is a tough task and poses a major challenge to law enforcement in the country.

"Given the present economic climate, any action taken by the police must be cautious and in no way disrupt normal business operations," said Zheng Shaodong, Assistant Minister of Public Security, at a recent national teleconference.

Zheng told the police to be prudent when seizing assets or freezing accounts, even if companies were suspected of being involved in crime. Police officers should think twice before detaining or arresting senior managers in charge of a company's operations, he suggested.

Some people believe the ministry is right, given that certain legal business operations are affected by improper interference from police and consequently suffer losses. They feel a relatively loose legal environment will help to make business more active, which is significant for social stability.

However, others believe that the legal principle must be consistent and by no means should police authorities relax control over economic crimes because of the current economic gloom. Nowadays, there are still cases of collusion between government officials and business people. Under the circumstances, it seems unfair to give preferential treatment to senior corporate managers. In the long run, the practice will bring more harm than benefits. Most agree that law enforcement should be cautious with all citizens in dealing with every criminal case. No one deserves to be offended or enjoy privileges when it comes to economic crimes.

See the big picture

Zou Yunxiang (Chengdu Business Daily): The recent worldwide recession has given birth to new problems, which demand many legal loopholes to be filled. Given the realistic economic environment facing enterprises, law enforcement departments should be prudent in arresting senior managers who have a controlling hand in corporate operations. This actually reflects a careful and rational attitude in law enforcement.

Laws are supposed to keep up with the times. In most cases, the formulation and amendment of laws are falling behind the pace of social progress. For example, during 1997 and 1998, in order to effectively cope with the Asian financial crisis, China adopted a series of legal measures to support tightened macroeconomic regulations. These measures worked well at the time but the situation is different now, as most enterprises need more stimulus measures to maintain growth.

When hundreds of people's employment is related to whether a senior manager is arrested or not, law enforcement departments must take prudent actions. The final goal of punishment is to protect social stability, so social impacts of a legal action must be taken into consideration here.

Some people are opposing this new proposal by referring to the principle of equality before the law. But what they do not know is: To be cautious in taking actions against criminal corporate managers is actually a reflection of this principle, because it takes into account the interests of those who are not directly related to criminal cases and also the fact that every case is unique.

The financial turmoil seems to be an economic crisis, but it involves various aspects of social and legal life. Therefore, we need to deal with the problem in a flexible way rather than sticking to the old way. Only by doing so can we find a way out of the current crisis.

Zhang Guifeng (China Youth Daily): The proposed prudent law enforcement does not necessarily mean to overthrow the principle legal egalitarianism. What it does is to stress the restraint of the government's power when dealing with economic crimes.

The core of the draft of the Administrative Enforcement Law, which was submitted for deliberation by lawmakers at the National People's Congress last year, is to restrict the administrative power by legal means. The draft covers a series of principles, stressing, when practicing administrative power to deal with criminal cases, the government should try to minimize potential losses the involved parties might suffer. All these principles reflect the concept of being cautious in practicing law enforcement.

More importantly, in the face of the severe economic situation, the stressed prudence toward senior managers actually means to protect the interests of the companies these senior managers serve, which are closely related to the interests of the employees. Thus, it's improper to conclude that the cautious actions are a special treatment to senior corporate managers only.

Wang Lin (Oriental Morning Post): The Ministry of Public Security's proposal to prudently handle economic crimes has been blamed for going against the principle that each individual is subject to the same laws. However, the public has neglected that this proposal was put forward in just one teleconference on crackdown on economic crimes involving senior corporate managers. Therefore, when stressing prudence toward senior corporate managers, it does not necessarily mean that ordinary people will be casually treated.