The scene photo posted by the netizen on the online forum. (Photo from internet)

Recently, a netizen in Changzhou, Jiangsu province posted in an online forum about an incident he witnessed at a local food market. The netizen said he saw city management officials offer a cigarette to a vendor at the market in order to get the vendor to cooperate with regulations. The post quickly triggered an online debate on the topic of "soft" law enforcement.

The netizen's account of the incident begins with a watermelon vendor cursing the city management officials. Those officers left, but several other officers arrived a moment later. The newcomers not only apologized to the vendor, but also gave him a cigarette.

"I don't know what to say. Is that all they can do? Is this the way they enforce the law?" the netizen lamented. 

A reporter from jschina.com.cn contacted the Chashan detachment of the Urban Administrative Law Enforcement Unit of Changzhou's Tianning District. Zhang Xiaofeng, the head of the Chashan detachment, told the reporter that on the afternoon of Sept. 3, officers discovered a stack of fruit boxes piled up in front of a fruit shop at the market that was blocking the flow of traffic. The officers asked the offending vendor to move the boxes at once. At first, the vendor cooperated. However, after being approached by the officers a second time, he got angry and began to curse at the officers. 

"The officers didn't talk back at all," said Zhang. Later, Jin Yufeng, the group leader, came over. He pacified the angry vendor and offered him the now infamous cigarette.

"Thanks to the persuasion of Jin Yufeng, the vendor gradually composed himself and moved the boxes voluntarily," Zhang said; the cigarette was simply a shortcut to placate the vendor in a short amount of time. 

According to Zhang, Jin is excellent at what he does. Before talking to the vendor, he took off his uniform in order to better appeal to the man.

Qian Jin, director of the Urban Administrative Law Enforcement Unit of Tianning District, said, "We require our officers to make judgments according to the specific situation, and to adopt a proper and humane manner when it comes to enforcing the law. Law enforcement is a serious matter; however, we can still be flexible in our methods."