President Jiang Urges Improvement in Law and Order

President Jiang Urges Improvement in Law and Order

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Chinese President Jiang Zemin urged Tuesday that law and order be improved to safeguard social stability and the reform process.

Jiang, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remark at a related national conference here.

Jiang asked Party committees and governments at al levels to improve the legal system and maintain good public order with "two tough hands", referring to economic development and public order.

As servants of the people, law enforcers and policemen must keep an honest and upright manner to win the trust of the public, Jiang said.

The high-profile conference opened shortly after a series of crimes that have shocked the country.

Documents issued at the meeting showed that the number of major crimes, including explosions, murders, robbery, kidnapping, poisoning and trafficking in women and children, are on the increase.

The meeting pointed out that gang crimes are rampant, crimes in the economic sector are frequent, and prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking are spreading.

The conference has decided to carry out a "strike-hard" campaign, which will mainly target three types of crimes - - gang crime, violent crime and frequently-occurring crime.

"It is the whole Party's responsibility to maintain a good public security," Jiang said.

He stressed that leading officials should be called to account for indifference to social order and incapacity to solve security problems in their units and regions.

Jiang also urged stricter adherence to the Four Cardinal Principles, including the Party's leadership and socialism, while centering work on economic construction.

He noted that the Party has ensured rapid economic growth and social stability by following the basic line of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Jiang said that the people's democratic dictatorship is the fundamental system of socialism. All the power belongs to the people, he said, adding that the dictatorship requires crackdown on any crime that is harmful to the country and the people.

Premier Zhu Rongji told the meeting that the whole nation should be mobilized to carry out the "strike-hard" campaign, and combat crimes in the economic sector.

He also demanded the prevention of the occurrence of accidents in production and construction, and that officials' responsibility must be investigated and affixed if serious accidents take place.