A top official of Guangzhou municipality urged the city's police officers to "have the courage to fire" at armed robbers who are threatening the life of a citizen or police officer.

Zhang Guifang made the appeal when commenting on police shooting a criminal suspect who had robbed a woman by pressing a knife against her neck and later resisted arrest by thrusting the knife towards the police officer.

The official's words sparked hot debate in the nation's media. Internet surveys found that 80 per cent of Chinese citizens approve of the shooting. Some legal experts and newspaper columnists, however, criticized Zhang, saying that his words could incite police officers to abuse the use of weapons and could lead to the killing of innocent people. They also said that the widespread sentiment of supporting police shootings represents a "dangerous inclination in the public of using violence against violence" and asserted that such a sentiment would "jeopardize China's process of democratization."

You've got to hand it to these scholars and writers for their ardent defence of human rights and democracy. Yet on second thoughts I doubt if their allegations are really that reasonable.

First, their accusation was based on misinterpretation of Zhang's words. Zhang's argument was made against the backdrop that some public places in Guangzhou are infested by the kanshou dang (gang of hand-choppers) who cut off the hands of their victims, usually a woman, to snatch their handbags. And his appeal was based on the fact that many police officers dare not open fire, even when the lives of victims or their own are threatened. Zhang asked the police to "dare to take the responsibility to fight crimes with legal weapons."

Second, support from the majority of the public for police use of firearms in the above-mentioned situation stems from a natural sense of justice rather than a "dangerous inclination for violence."

Presently, violent crimes are becoming rampant in many places across the country. The Guangzhou Railway Station, for example, is notorious for savage robbery by armed thugs, who would not hesitate to fatally harm the victim even for something worth as little as US$1. Citizens are increasingly worried about security in public places and yearn for forceful protection from the police.

The police, however, have become increasingly wary of taking tough action against criminals even when the crime is conspicuous. There have been more and more cases in recent years in which police officers were accused of violating the human rights of suspects. Some police officers choose to shy away from getting involved in "difficult to be clarified troubles." That is exactly why Zhang called for police officers to "dare to take the responsibility."

Blame certainly should not be placed on people's growing awareness of human rights. The problem lies with the ambiguity of the law concerning police use of weapons. The Regulations on the Use of Weapons by Police stipulates that "policeman should refrain from using weapons unless the refraining may lead to a more serious consequence." The wording is too general and too vague. A police officer would hardly have time, in an emergency, to determine if the situation is as serious as stated in the law. The law should be more specific in defining the conditions .

In many cases, the question is not about police abusing power, but rather about their shirking responsibility to protect themselves from being accused of abusing power. We seem to have gone to the other extreme in emphasizing the human rights of criminal suspects. Criminals seem to have become more and more audacious in preying on citizens while the police have become less and less courageous in fighting violent crimes.

For the sake of protecting common citizens, let's stop preaching about the human rights of criminals for a while.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/12/2006 page4)