The Communist Party led by general secretary Hu Jintao , who serves concurrently as head of state, has put emphasis on the need for a 'people-oriented policy' to form a 'harmonious society'. These are important concepts. The policy of putting people first has been cited as the rationale for such actions as helping the victims of earthquakes and evacuating Chinese nationals caught in dangerous situations overseas, such as when Kyrgyzstan was torn by riots. A people-centred policy would also result in much safer mines in China, where more miners die every year than in any other country.
A harmonious society, too, is a worthy goal. But the government should realise that no society is without conflict. From a practical standpoint, China should provide more resources for the resolution of conflicts rather than trying to artificially bring about harmony by throwing in jail everyone with a grievance, on the grounds that they are troublemakers and threaten harmony.
After all, there can be no harmonious society unless such concepts as justice and fairness are upheld.
The treatment of Zhao Lianhai is a case in point. Zhao's infant son, like 300,000 other Chinese children - at least six of whom died - became sick in 2008 after he was given milk laced with the chemical melamine and developed a kidney stone.
Like any father, he cared for his son's health - but not only for his son's health. Zhao got in contact with other people in the same plight and created a website for babies with kidney stones. He met other aggrieved parents, held demonstrations in front of courthouses demanding justice and gave interviews to the media.
Those actions, it turns out, were crimes. Zhao was accused of inciting social disorder by 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'. He was found guilty and jailed for 2 1/2 years.
But then, Hong Kong stepped in. Not just the usual suspects, the democrats who called for the release of the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. Virtually the entire pro-Beijing establishment in Hong Kong rose up in protest at the way the mainland legal system was treating someone seen as a hero, who was himself a victim and whose cause was just.
