The police has not cracked the case to this day.”

Hard case to crack indeed. It is ofcourse totally impossible to tell where these thugs came from,, maybe they were just robbers going into a random house,, maybe she misheard Scream as Petition.

Well, remember where these petitioners were going? They were going to Beijing to tattle-tale. Local governments DO somewhat fear their superior central government overlords. That’s why they’re going to such extreme measures to prevent these petitioners from getting to Beijing. Even if the petitioners get to Beijing, however, there are forces in Beijing to stop them there too, hence the Beijing black jails “expose” that made the rounds a month or so ago.

There is a persistent faith amongst the general populace that the local overlords are corrupt and evil and they can seek redress from their benevolent central government if only the central government knew. While this sometimes is true, you and I both know the very real conflict of interest problem. Even beyond that, I think most rational people can appreciate (not necessarily excuse) the sheer difficulty of governing 1.3 billion people in such a large, diverse, and largely undeveloped country.

You know, that’s hilarious, because I’ve seen the same thing happen in our school. When someone from a really rich and powerful family does something really bad, there’s always an “investigation” that takes like 3 weeks. It’s usually almost impossible for any real punishment to happen once that furor dies down. Whereas, when an average student does something wrong, there’s immediate action taken.

But again, I ask my question – Where is the oversee on this? Isn’t there someone whose job it is to make sure things like the story on this thread don’t happen? How did these people get away with doing this stuff for so long? (assuming, of course, that this story is true)

The big stories that get traction with the general populace whether through traditional media or the internet tend to get some sort of response by the government. Lin Jiaxiang, for example, was fired, as I recall.

I think the initial displays of arrogance or contempt is the initial ploy to use their “power” to intimidate. However, once they’re exposed to the general population, that initial attempt to intimidate only compounds the general population’s contempt for them.

For high profile cases, heads do seem to roll, but even the general populace is skeptical about lasting change or punishment. Many Chinese netizens make jokes about big cases being “investigated” forever…ostensibly waiting until the furor dies down and the suspects’ fates are often remain unknown.

In the west a politically juicey story like this would have the press and police all over it. The official would be hounded by the do good groups and probably put on a Pedophile listing. In other words he would be screwed.