An awards ceremony with the theme of "the power of the rule of law" was broadcast live on CCTV on December 4 and featured nine individuals and one organization prominent in defending legal rights this year.
Co-organized by the Publicity Department of CCCPC (Central Committee of the Communist Party of China), the Ministry of Justice and CCTV, they were nominated and appraised by a team of legal experts, scholars and media veterans as well as audience letters and online votes.
Zhang Xianzhu -- HBV carrier wins the first lawsuit against job discrimination
In June of last year, 25-year-old Zhang Xianzhu, a native of Wuhu in Anhui Province, took part in a civil service recruitment examination and ranked first among 30. Zhang sued Wuhu's Personnel Affairs Bureau in October 2003 after he was denied a job because he carries the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
In April 2004, Xinwu District People's Court said a report from a local hospital violated provincial standards because he did not fall into the specific categories that would have meant he was not qualified for public service.
There are about 120 million people with HBV in China, and they frequently suffer discrimination in education, employment and marriage. After this case Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong provinces all modified their regulations banning HBV carriers from being employed as public servants. And the Ministry of Personnel also unified the physical examination standards in recruiting public servants.
Gao Zheng -- disclosing the notorious Fuyang fake milk powder incident
Baby milk powder with little or no nutritional value spread throughout Fuyang in Anhui Province in 2003 and early this year, and dozens of babies died as a result. Residents of Fuyang called the illness they saw in their villages "big head disease" -- actually edema caused by malnutrition.
Gao Zheng, 30, is a farmer in Taihe County. As his nephew was one of the babies affected, Gao witnessed the tragedy firsthand and used up all his savings to save the baby.
He paid to test the milk powder, secretly collected evidence and actively reported the case to local departments. Although frustrated many times by the authorities he persevered, his voice was finally heard by the media. The incident shocked the nation after being disclosed, and an overhaul of the milk powder market was later launched.
Fuyang seized 55 varieties of substandard milk powder, involving 40 businesses in 10 provinces and regions. Over 100,000 packages of it were prevented from being sold.
Wu Guanglin -- sacrificing his life in cracking down on drug trafficking
Wu Guanglin, 35, was a drugs squad deputy chief in the Lincang region of Yunnan Province, bordering the notorious Golden Triangle.
Since November 2002, Wu and his colleagues had cracked 152 drug cases and captured 275 suspects, seizing over 550 kilograms of narcotics and four million yuan (US$483,295). On August 30 he was killed by armed drug traffickers while covering his colleagues.
Most narcotics enter China through Yunnan, 90 percent of which come through three regions: Lincang, Dehong and Simao. Police in these areas have paid a high price in tackling drug trafficking.
Xie Jian -- anti-corruption prosecutor
Xie Jian is vice chief prosecutor at Nanjing Gulou District Procuratorate and director of the Anti-corruption Bureau.
Since becoming bureau director in 1998, she has successively handled 151 cases involving 41 officials, and has retrieved 70 million yuan (US$8.4 million).
By not relying on confessions in her cases -- the first in Jiangsu Province to do so -- she helped avoid forced confessions being extracted from people during investigations, marking a breakthrough in furthering the rule of law.
Song Yushui -- candid judge in China's 'silicon village'
Song Yushui is the presiding judge for intellectual property cases at Haidian District People's Court in Beijing.
Containing the area of Zhongguancun, known as China's "silicon village," Haidian sees frequent intellectual property disputes.
Song has handled and resolved a huge number of complex cases, helping to promote the law in this burgeoning environment.
Luan Wentang -- disclosing lottery fraud
Luan Wentang, 72, was the financial director of Xi'an Sports Lottery Management Center in Shaanxi Province from 1995 to 2000.
In 1996, he started an eight-year battle to uncover lottery fraud, collecting a huge amount of evidence that helped convict and imprison six provincial sports lottery officials and others who had been involved.
Luan also provided crucial support to people who had been victims of the fraud.
Zhang Xingguo -- a veteran chef who refuses to cook wild animals
Zhang Xingguo, a veteran chef in Huludao, Liaoning Province, has been fired 12 times by restaurants and quit from over 20 jobs over the past eight years because he refuses to cook wild animals.
In recent years, wildlife has been extremely popular with diners around the country, and protection laws seriously challenged. He was considered extreme and foolish -- veteran chefs like him can earn high salaries in big restaurants while Zhang still scrabbles for a living. However, he stuck to his principles and has pleaded with over 1,000 cooks face to face not to cook wild animals. On December 22 last year over a hundred local chefs headed by Zhang signed a declaration vowing never to cook wildlife.
Zhang was given the title of "Green Cook" by the Wildlife Conservation Association of China for defending the law.
Cao Fagui -- mediator dies at his post
Cao Fagui, 47, was director of Huangba Village People's Mediator Committee in Wujiang County, Anhui Province.
On May 16, he was attacked by a local tyrant and died while mediating a land dispute between local villagers.
Since he took his post in 1989, he had helped to resolve 2,000 disputes concerning marriage, neighborhood relationships, land disputes and work compensation, making a great contribution to the stability of the region.
Xu Chongde -- witnessing China's progress in the rule of law
Professor Xu Chongde initiated doctorate degree study of Constitution and Administrative Law.
Although with many titles such as director of China Law Society, honorary director of China's Constitution Research Association and vice director of Beijing Constitution Research Association, Xu, a noted expert at Renmin University of China, still considers himself an ordinary scholar.
He has independently written, edited or cooperatively written 57 academic works and textbooks and 238 academic theses and articles, and has been engaged in teaching for 50 years. As the witness and participant of the establishment of China's Constitution, he helped draft the first Constitution of China in 1954 and current Constitution in 1982. He also helped draft the Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macao.
China Consumers' Association
China Consumers' Association (CCA) was the only organization selected.
Since July 2003, the CCA has made public statements on 29 arbitrary regulations in five industries including telecommunications, real estate, banks, automobiles, and tourism.
Zhejiang Commercial Bank, departments of telecommunication, automobiles and tourism have all modified their practices as a result of the CCA's actions.
(China.org.cn by Wang Qian, December 13, 2004)
