Roses, not rods: Chinese 'chengguan' forsake brutality

While many Chinese urban management officers, or "chengguan," are often accused of brutality during their law enforcement, a few of them in central China's mega city of Wuhan are trying to remold their tarnished images through a softer manner.

A pharmacy clerk surnamed Wu received a rose after he and his colleagues, under the persuasion of several female chengguan, ripped down posters that had been illegally put up on the walls.

"How can we be so brazen to put up posters again since the beautiful officers have sent us roses?" Wu said.

The roses, rather than to convey romance among lovers, are intended to encourage people to cooperate with the law enforcers, said Liu Xiaojing, a female chengguan who walked on the street on Oct. 6 with her colleagues on a "special mission."

"We won't quarrel or fight with people. Instead, we treat them politely and try to persuade them with a kind manner," Liu said. "If they cooperate with us, we send them roses as a kind of reward."

Wuhan, a bustling city by the Yangtze River like many others around the country, is crowded with numerous peddlers on the streets. One of chengguan's major tasks is to maintain orders in cities, dispelling peddlers if they block traffic.

During such law enforcement tasks, skirmishes often break out, with peddlers occasionally being brutally beaten by chengguan, resulting in a spate of criticism and denouncements.

To polish their tarnished image, urban management authorities in Wuhan initiated this special mission, which instantly went viral online and won many plaudits from Internet users.

"We appreciate each attempt toward progress by Chengguan. A flower is much better than a bundle of sticks, and that makes change happen," said Deng Fei, a renowned reporter for Phoenix Weekly, on the popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblog.

"It is always better to enforce law in a tender manner rather than in a brutal way," said another Sina Weibo user, Gai Huixia. "Only respect toward the people can genuinely reflect on the idea of putting people first."

While the new initiative by Wuhan chengguan was hailed by some, others regarded it as a mere publicity stunt.

"It sounds nice, no matter if it is a publicity stunt or not," said a netizen with the screen name "Buzaibeijing."

This is not the first time that Wuhan chengguan have tried to enforce the law in such a soft way.

In the past, they have tried to dispel peddlers from the streets by encircling and staring at them without uttering even a word.

As early as February 2010, the Wuhan municipal government formed the country's first female chengguan squad in the hopes of gaining more support and better understanding from citizens.

Experts point out that the city managers should seek a substantial way to ease the tense relationship between chengguan and the people, though law enforcement in a non-violent way can be useful.

"The point is, law enforcers also must strictly abide by the law," said Qin Qianhong, a law professor with Wuhan University.

Shen Yang, another professor with the university, said "soft law-enforcement" can only work temporarily, and urban management should be based on an effective long-term mechanisms.

"For example, we can earmark a special zone in downtown areas to allow peddlers to hawk there at given times to guarantee the security of those who are at the bottom of society," Shen said.