Li Yifan the son of a local police chief in Heibei sparked widespread outrage after driving drunk and causing an accident in which one innocent woman was killed, and another injured.
i Yifan proclaimed to the surrounding crowd who had gathered to help the women, “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!” Heedless of his obnoxious threats, the case was duly brought before the authorities. However, this is where the story of one of China’s little emperor generation takes a stranger turn.
The ‘Li’ who appeared in court seemed to be noticeably different in physical appearance to the driver who had caused the accident, leading to speculation among Chinese citizens that a body double had been hired to stand in for Li Yifan. Whilst this turned out to be unsubstantiated rumour, it may well have crossed the defendants mind to take such drastic action.
Such incidents are symptomatic of the increasing gap between the Chinese super rich and the general population
It is well known that some of the less scrupulous Chinese with wealth do hire body doubles to serve their sentences, or stand in for court appearances. The practice is known as ding zhui, meaning substitute criminal. Documented incidents in 2009 include a hospital president who hired an employee’s father to confess for him in court, a man who hit and killed a motorcyclist who hired a stand in for $8,000, and a demolition company owner, charged with illegal demolitions, who paid $31 to a homeless man for each day he spent in jail on his behalf.
Such incidents are symptomatic of the increasing gap between the Chinese super rich and the general population, the wealthy elite making up just one tenth of one percent of the population while controlling fifty percent of the wealth. Even in famous and well publicized show trials such as the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of Bo Xillai, there was widespread speculation that a body double had been hired, due to perceptible physical changes in her appearance between her arrest and trial. For many ordinary Chinese citizens, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust the courts and legal systems in a country where princelings are capable of using their wealth to buy themselves out of punishment for their crimes.
By Ajay Kumar
