Xi Jinping wants lawyers in China to ‘follow and embrace’ the Communist Party’s leadership

President also says ‘political guidance’ should be strengthened, during speech at a Politburo study session
Observers say the remarks suggest there could be a further tightening of control over the legal profession

Law

Guo Rui

Published: 7:00am, 9 Dec 2021

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Lawyers in China should consciously “follow and embrace” the leadership of the Communist Party, President Xi Jinping has told a Politburo study session.

He also said the party should strengthen its “political guidance” of lawyers.

“[We should] educate and guide lawyers to consciously abide by the basic requirements of supporting the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist rule of law in China, and strive to be good lawyers satisfied by the party and the people,” Xi told the meeting in Beijing on Monday, according to official news agency Xinhua.

President Xi Jinping said the party should strengthen “political guidance” of lawyers. Photo: Xinhua

While it was not the first time China’s president has emphasised the party’s leadership over the legal profession, observers said the call signalled a further tightening of control over lawyers.

Qin Qianhong, a professor at Wuhan University’s school of law, said emphasising the guidance for lawyers was consistent with China’s legal system.

“Political guidance for lawyers is one of the characteristics of the rule of law in China, a natural requirement that lawyers must work within the political system, to remain loyal and uphold the leadership of the party,” Qin said.

But he said an overemphasis on politics would undermine the profession’s credibility.

“It’s not good to only emphasise political loyalty, and law has its special professional and legal characteristics,” Qin said. “[Stressing] loyalty and obedience [to the party] – and neglecting the need [for lawyers] to improve their professional ability and neutrality – will harm the credibility of lawyers, and that is not what the party and top leaders want.”

Chinese lawyers banned from discussing cases in public

Lawyers as a profession were restored in the 1980s, after the Cultural Revolution ended. China had over 520,000 practising lawyers by the end of 2020, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The authorities have sought to strictly manage the legal profession in recent years, disqualifying and jailing hundreds of people seen as troublemakers and potential threats to the party. The most severe suppression came in 2015 when about 300 human rights lawyers, legal assistants and activists were rounded up in the “709 crackdown”.

Lu Siwei lost his lawyer’s licence early this year after he defended 12 Hong Kong fugitives who had attempted to flee to Taiwan to escape prosecution for their roles in the 2019 anti-government protests. He said the nature of the job inevitably led to conflict with the authorities for some lawyers.

“In handling cases, lawyers will witness many social problems and judicial corruption, and they will also see many violations of basic human rights, which the authorities do not want to be made public,” Lu said. “The authorities do not consider lawyers who handle criminal cases to be forces who could jeopardise social stability – but they do see lawyers who defend political prisoners, religious people, petitioners and dissidents as potentially affecting social stability.”

The president’s speech at Monday’s study session – which also covered the rule of law, lawmaking and national security – came weeks after a key meeting where the party adopted a historical resolution on its achievements, cementing Xi’s leadership status. Party propagandists have been in overdrive since then promoting Xi’s political doctrine on areas from the economy to law and order and foreign affairs.