Under China's current police procedures, pretrial detention is almost inevitable for the settlement of a criminal case. Judicial practice actually puts detention first and bail as an exception. But according to modern legal concepts, bail should come first with detention as an option. In this sense, to be prudent in arresting and detaining senior corporate managers is a proper and necessary proposal.

No room for selective policing

Qiao Xinsheng (Zhujiang Evening News): Law enforcement departments should scrupulously abide by the principle of equality before the law. However, some police officers have ignored the principle and always interfere in lawful operations of businesses. In the meantime, some local governments, in order to attract more foreign funds, stymie local law enforcement departments trying to investigate law-breaking practices of foreign-funded companies. In fact, these two kinds of phenomena have the same essence as the proposed prudence when handling economic crimes involving senior corporate managers. They are all examples of selective law enforcement that severely override the dignity of laws and undermine the legal environment.

If the system of law enforcement can change according to the economic climate, this will not only inflict damages to the constitutional system but also produce serious results, giving more chances for business criminals to avoid punishment by law.

All in all, although it is acceptable that the police act prudently when dealing with economic crimes, we should not adopt it as a guiding principle only for its expected effectiveness in coping with the spreading economic crisis.

Wang Limei (The Beijing News): Every person or organization is equal before the law, no matter who they are or how rich they are. This principle determines that the police should be prudent before issuing warrants of arrest for either senior corporate managers or ordinary citizens. In whatever situation, we should not allow police authorities to selectively enforce laws and regulations.

In the United States, even during today's severe economic crisis, it does not change the consistency of its laws. A typical example is the probe into Bernard Madoff, a quiet force on Wall Street for decades and former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. Because of Madoff's high profile, the investigation has had a major impact on the U.S. and even worldwide stock markets. However, U.S. securities regulators did not use selective law enforcement because of the current economic turmoil.

Hence, the legal principle must be consistent. We must not change it only to meet the temporary needs of today's economic crisis. In fact, in such a situation, police authorities need to follow the consistent principle of law enforcement much more. It's only by keeping the principle that our people can remain confident in the governance capacity of the government. Confidence is the best cure to current economic crisis.

Zhang Yongqi (China Youth Daily): Under today's economic situation, economic crimes actually do more harm to social stability. Severe punishment should be imposed on involved criminals to protect social interests and maintain the dignity of law. If the security of a company is built on the basis of being lenient on its senior corporate managers who commit crimes, how can we protect the lawful rights and interests of the public?

Whether the social outcome is good or not depends on the legal egalitarianism. Being slack when it comes to white-collar crime policing will only allow fraudsters to perpetuate their actions.

Pu Shaling (Yanzhao Metropolis Daily): In today's China, senior corporate managers have already enjoyed many "privileges" in law enforcement as a result of intense competition for investment among various regions. When senior corporate managers are involved in economic crimes, some local governments tend to look away and local law enforcement departments do nothing to intervene. To stress prudence again under the circumstances seems to be going too far.

Dear Readers,

"Forum" is a column that provides a space for varying perspectives on contemporary Chinese society. We invite you to submit personal viewpoints on past and current topics (in either English or Chinese).

E-mail us at byao@cipg.org.cn

Please provide your name and address along with your comments.