英闻天下——81 China to Reform Re-education through Labor System

 　　The laojiao system allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.

 

　　Leading experts have argued this contradicts Chinese laws and China's Constitution.

 

　　The system has made headlines in recent months, with several cases of people being wrongfully sent for "laojiao" prompting public scrutiny¹ of the 50-year-old method of punishment.

 

　　However, officials taking part in a national political and legal work conference held on Monday have not outlined what kind of reforms may be in store.

 

　　In October, the head of the Central Leading Group for Judicial² Reform conceded to reporters there are loopholes in the system.

 

　　At that time, he also revealed the authorities were working on a draft plan to reform the "laojiao."

 

　　Currently, four cities, including Jiangsu's capital Nanjing and Shandong's capital Jinan, have rolled out pilot programs to change the reeducation through labor³ system.

 

　　The most recent stats from the Ministry⁴ of Justice show 160-thousand people were held in 350 re-education through labor centers across China as of the end of 2008.

 

　　Party chief Xi Jinping has been putting pressure on law enforcement to heed⁵ people's expectations for public security, judicial fairness and the protection of their rights.

 

　　This is the second time Xi Jinping has called on law enforcement officials to meet public expectations since being elected leader of the Communist Party of China in November.

 

　　On Monday, he repeated his call in an instruction letter to senior law enforcement officials before they gathered for the national political and legal work conference.

 

　　In the letter, Xi is calling for strict management of police officers.

 

　　He's also calling on officials to root-out unfairness and judicial corruption⁶, as well as improve the affinity⁷ and credibility of their political and legal work.

 

　　For CRI, this is Wei Tong.

1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。