In a global effort to attain 'soft power' matching its growing economic and military prowess, China spends huge sums operating Confucius Institutes at hundreds of foreign universities and internationalising its media outlets. The goal is to promote respect for its contemporary civilisation and thereby enhance the government's political influence and image. Yet the effects of these programmes - unlike similar efforts by democratic countries - are undermined by daily reports of not only the repression of basic freedoms by the 'people's democratic dictatorship', but also the unfair criminal justice system that is the major instrument of this repression.
Nothing more vividly illustrates this injustice than the restrictions imposed on an accused's right to effective counsel. These restrictions are not apparent from a reading of China's ever-improving legislation. The 2007 Lawyers Law eliminated some of the obstacles confronting defence counsel under the 1996 Criminal Procedure Law, but police skirted that reform, saying they are not governed by the Lawyers Law. This year, many of those 2007 changes were incorporated into the Criminal Procedure Law itself, so that, starting on January 1, when the revised law takes effect, police can no longer rely on that feeble excuse.
Unfortunately, as Shakespeare might note today, legislative improvements keep the promise to the ear, but Communist Party- controlled legal institutions break it to the hope. If current events are any guide, the situation is unlikely to change under the revised Criminal Procedure Law. Recent cases remind us of the authorities' continuing refusal to implement the right to counsel in good faith.
The Bo Xilai scandal doubly demonstrates the denial of defence counsel. When, in March, Bo, removed from his post as Chongqing party secretary, disappeared into the bowels of the party's discipline inspection commission rather than its legal system, leaders solemnly announced - with no apparent awareness of how bizarre the announcement made them seem - that Bo would be handled strictly according to law. Although rumours have suggested that Bo, weeks ago, requested access to counsel, he will remain in incommunicado party custody until it decides whether he should be transferred to the legal system for formal criminal punishment.
Yet even criminal prosecution will not assure Bo the opportunity to be defended by lawyers of his choice. His wife Gu Kailai was detained months ago on murder charges but has yet to meet a lawyer. Although her family reportedly retained Shen Zhigeng, a well-known lawyer, the police have not approved this choice, and the authorities may themselves select more politically reliable counsel.
In China, law enforcement officials frequently resort to this technique in sensitive cases. The ongoing investigation on spurious attempted murder charges of Chen Kegui, the nephew of the blind 'barefoot lawyer' Chen Guangcheng, who famously escaped from illegal home imprisonment to the US embassy, offers another example. For over two months, police in Shandong have refused to recognise the right of independent, out-of-town lawyers appointed by the Chen family to contact the hapless suspect. They falsely maintain that he prefers to be represented by local lawyers appointed by the county government's legal aid office, which, like all other legal institutions, is controlled by the local party political-legal committee.