He Weifeng is one of China’s most prominent legal scholars. But he is so disillusioned with his country’s legal system he has stopped paying attention to daily government pronouncements on forthcoming legal reform.
“I have lost all hope and I just feel numb now; in fact recently I have just been travelling round China visiting friends and getting drunk,” said Mr He, a Peking University law school professor.
China’s ruling Communist party has officially been committed to the rule of law since the late 1970s. But as its 350 most powerful cadres meet in Beijing this week it is clear from their agenda that abiding by that principle remains an elusive goal.