I am writing this piece in the first person because of a number of factors which feature in the text. I normally do not write in the first person as I do not consider it sound legal writing etiquette, but in the present instance I am making an exception mainly because I have expressed several subjective views and conclusions; also, because I have referred to an interview with a local television channel in Beijing, and to my specific answers given to a questionnaire which I was requested by the Supreme People's Court to address. My responses in English were translated into Chinese and published in China Trial, a magazine of the Supreme People's Court.