Ministry responds to complaints about law enforcement

Chen Yueliang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday local authorities will step up training for law enforcement officials in communities and create a complaint system, after some local officials were accused of intruding in homes and publicly shaming residents who breached local rules imposed to control the spread of novel coronavirus.

Local governments will gradually adjust control measures in light of the epidemic's development and strive to minimize the influence which control work brings over communities, Chen, head of the ministry's department of grassroots regime construction and community governance, told a news conference in Beijing.

Improper law enforcement has eroded resident's legal rights and interests amid the containment of the novel coronavirus outbreak and has seriously damaged the government's image, he said, adding such actions should be stopped as soon as possible.

The ministry and the National Health Commission had previously released a guideline that warned law enforcement of adopting a one-size-fits-all approach which overlooks special needs in communities, and asked them to get control work done in a legal and orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, local authorities should quickly drop control measures that put financial stress on the public, Chen said in response to reports some governments require people from out of the town to isolate themselves in hotels at their own expense.

"At a critical moment for containment efforts, authorities should carry out work legally and scientifically," he said. "Control measures should not exceed what is necessary, and should not unduly influence people's lives."

Public discontent over so-called "excessive law enforcement" has grown after a video clip went viral online showing a man in Xiaogan, Hubei province being slapped by a community worker after he was found to have played mahjong at home with his parents. The mahjong table was taken outside and smashed.

Xiaogan, with more than 3,000 confirmed infections, is the second-hardest-hit city next to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where the deadly pathogen emerged in December and spread across the nation.

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, has vowed to do everything to prevent the specter of another Wuhan while calling for more containment efforts within communities.