Home » Opinion » Opinion Columns
When taxpayers pay for officials' crimes
December 14, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN tort law or common sense, if your dog bites someone, you pay the victim for medical and other expenses. Same if your minor child hurts someone. In either case, you pay - not your dog or your child.
Some local governments in China have learned to treat some of their civil servants like a dog or a child, letting them off the hook for their offenses.
On the night of December 5, Gu Qingyang, head of the postal office of Luoning County, Henan Province, killed five kids while drunk driving with a former female colleague.
Two days later, the post office paid a lump sum 1.15 million yuan (US$172,480) in compensation for the five lost lives. On December 7, Gu was arrested. On December 10, Gu's wife repaid the post office 170,000 yuan and signed a letter confirming that the Gu family still owed the post office 400,000 yuan.
The IOU letter meant that the family would pay only 570,000 yuan in compensation, leaving the post office holding the rest of the bag. In fact, the post office should have paid none, let alone paying in advance on behalf of Gu.
There's no law or custom in China that calls for a government body to pay for a criminal act by a member of its staff. That the postal office paid for its director's crime showed how taxpayers' money could be misused in such a blatant manner against law and conscience.
And Luoning County is not alone. In September, the director of the meteorology bureau of another county in Henan Province killed three pedestrians while driving his bosses to local scenic spots for sightseeing. The local government paid the victims' families.
Some local governments in China have learned to treat some of their civil servants like a dog or a child, letting them off the hook for their offenses.
On the night of December 5, Gu Qingyang, head of the postal office of Luoning County, Henan Province, killed five kids while drunk driving with a former female colleague.
Two days later, the post office paid a lump sum 1.15 million yuan (US$172,480) in compensation for the five lost lives. On December 7, Gu was arrested. On December 10, Gu's wife repaid the post office 170,000 yuan and signed a letter confirming that the Gu family still owed the post office 400,000 yuan.
The IOU letter meant that the family would pay only 570,000 yuan in compensation, leaving the post office holding the rest of the bag. In fact, the post office should have paid none, let alone paying in advance on behalf of Gu.
There's no law or custom in China that calls for a government body to pay for a criminal act by a member of its staff. That the postal office paid for its director's crime showed how taxpayers' money could be misused in such a blatant manner against law and conscience.
And Luoning County is not alone. In September, the director of the meteorology bureau of another county in Henan Province killed three pedestrians while driving his bosses to local scenic spots for sightseeing. The local government paid the victims' families.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
