Whistle-blowers need protection

CHEN WENYAN, a teacher in Zunhua, North China's Hebei province, was beaten by local police after she tried to report her school's illegal activities to higher authorities in 2010. When her school partly covered her medical costs she was charged with extorting money from them, found guilty and imprisoned. She was found innocent on appeal last September, and got her job back recently. Beijing Times says:

Chen's story best illustrates the cost of being a whistle-blower in China: as such people are treated as an enemy by local officials, who will use all measures, such as police harassment, to try and stop people from bringing issues to the attention of higher authorities.

Blackmail is a common charge used against whistle-blowers. When whistle-blowers are wounded by police or illegal gangs in the bid to stop them speaking out, some local governments send them aid, in order to trap them. The local procuratorates side with local governments and take the aid as "solid evidence" that the whistle-blowers have been blackmailing officials.