THE PHRASE “sue me, my father is Li Gang!” became a catchphrase in China after a senior police official’s son allegedly hit a young woman while driving drunk and tried to use his father’s high office to avoid responsibility.
Li Qiming went on trial yesterday accused of hitting two women on October 16th while driving under the influence of alcohol on a university campus, killing 20-year-old student Chen Xiaofeng and also injuring her friend.
The case caused outrage and became emblematic of attempts by the children of cadres to use privilege to get away with, literally, murder.
Mindful of the anger at what looks like indifference among the leadership to the concerns of ordinary people, premier Wen Jiabao took the highly unusual step of meeting petitioners at the country’s top petition bureau where people go to file complaints against officialdom.
After the visit he urged citizens to voice their criticisms of the government and speak out about injustice. It was the first time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 that a premier has met ordinary petitioners.
Mr Wen said the government must “create conditions that allow citizens to criticise and supervise the government, and enable government to responsibly resolve the problems and difficulties of the masses”, according to a report on China Central Television.
His visit comes shortly before Chinese new year next month, a time when Chinese people try to get any outstanding business cleared before the arrival of the new lunar year – in this case the Year of the Rabbit.
For the government, defusing growing public anger about abuse by officialdom features high on the order of business.
Going to the petition bureau often earns the plaintiff a painful kicking and a ticket home, or sometimes detention in a “black jail” detention centre.
But amid growing public dissatisfaction about land grabs, police torture, official corruption and unhappiness about rising prices in China, the government is keen to show it cares.
There are thousands of cases of people who feel they are maltreated by the government. In one case in the capital yesterday, members of a family drenched themselves in petrol and threatened to set themselves alight if developers went ahead with the forced demolition of their shop.
Mr Wen, called “Grandad Wen” because he is felt to have the common touch, urged citizens to voice their criticisms of the government and speak out about injustice.
At the time of Mr Wen’s visit, Chinese bloggers became animated about a violent satirical cartoon produced to mark the start of the Year of the Rabbit.
It is a daring revolutionary call to arms and was initially spread via Chinese social networking sites, although it has since been blocked.
The video starts off looking like an animated nursery rhyme, with rabbits playing but quickly turns violent, featuring some of the big themes of contemporary China, including the plight of petitioners. In one scene there is reference to the Li Gang case, with a rabbit saying “sue me”.
The final scenes are of the rabbits rising up, going on the rampage and attacking the leaders. “The Year of the Rabbit has come. Even rabbits bite when they’re pushed.”