China focus: Xi stresses vitality and order in rule of law

President Xi Jinping has called for a greater role for the Communist Party of China (CPC) in guiding the country's political and legal affairs, urging a balance between "vitality and order." Xi made the comments during a central political and legal work meeting held from Tuesday to Wednesday. "The Party should lead legislation, ensure law enforcement and set an example in abiding by the law," Xi said, adding that political and legal work should be conducted with an aim to safeguard Party policies and the authority of the law. According to Xi, ensuring social stability is the basic task of the country's political and legal work, and promoting social justice and equality its core value. "People's demands for their lawful interests must be properly handled; policies with a crucial impact on protecting people's interests must be improved; The position of the law in solving conflicts should be strengthened," said Xi. The president stressed that relations between stability and people's interests as well as those between vitality and order must be well managed. Xi ordered officials in the political and legal system to "carry the sword of justice and scale of equality" and take pragmatic actions to safeguard social justice and equality while solving prominent issues that harm people's interests. Xi insisted that power abuse, wrongful judgments, ordinary people unable to afford to go to court, and police not responding to emergencies should not be allowed to happen. Officials in the political and legal system should take public concerns seriously, protect the people's life and property, and crack down on serious criminal offences to ensure that the people live and work in peace and contentment, Xi said. All officials in the legal and political system should enforce laws impartially, promote transparency in their work, and be open to public supervision in order to eliminate judicial corruption, Xi noted, adding that any violations will be punished harshly. "Officials at all levels are forbidden to overstep the limitations of laws, to abuse their power, or to bend the law for personal gain," Xi said. He urged the establishment of systems to record, report and hold officials responsible for any interference in the judicial process. Xi said that all political and legal workers should maintain absolute loyalty to the Party and resolutely curb malpractice. Xi also called on all political and legal workers to spearhead tough tasks, improve their abilities to perform various missions in the field, and fight against corruption. Xi reiterated that judicial reform is one of the most important parts of political restructuring, and accelerating the establishment of an impartial and authoritative socialist judicial system will promote social justice. Meng Jianzhu, chief of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Central Committee of the CPC, briefed the meeting on the plans for political and legal work in 2014. Meng urged carrying forward the Party spirit and deepening judicial reform via innovative social management and wider use of science and technology in order to build a strong team and fully improve the country's political and legal work