As reported by the SCMP on 22 March, Wang Cheng, a Hangzhou-based lawyer and social activist, sent a letter to the nation’s highest court, alleging that Zhang Dejiang’s election to the National People’s Congress was invalid. In the document, he said Zhang’s election violated China’s constitution, Article 65 in particular. The article stipulates that no one on the Standing Committee of the NPC shall hold office in any of the administrative, judicial or procuratorial organs of the state.
The lawyer might be perfectly right but he is attacking the basic rules set by the top government. First of all, the Constitution is never allowed to be used in a court of law, whatever the government says about the importance of the Constitution. It is a dead piece of paper. Would be nice of course if that would change. Furthermore, the government has made it perfectly clear (read China Daily, commenting on the lianghui two years ago) that there will be no separation of the 3 powers (“No separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers”) as it is the case in the West. In China there are parallel worlds: what the government says and what it does.
On the other hand, the new team at the top shows promising signs of changes. Let’s hope we will not be disappointed.