From Chinese Press

The wrong use of wine power

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-19 07:56

The local government of Moutai town in Renhuai city, Guizhou province, recently announced that all shops in Huaimao South Road should sell white wine, and ordered the forcible closure of shops that did not. This move is nothing but illegal and should be stopped by all means, says an article on eastday.com. Excerpts:

The head of Moutai town ordered that shops in Huaimao South Road that do not sell white wine should be driven out of business forcibly. When asked about the justification of such a move during an interview, he said it was for the good of the "public".

The Moutai local government seems to have got the "legal" justification for its action from a recent "urban planning" document, which says all shops in Huaimao South Road should only sell white wine and shops that did not should "move out" within 72 hours.

What's more, local officials took it for granted that the shopkeepers could be driven out without being paid any compensation.

But no law empowers the local government to close down shops that do not sell wine. Only if shops break the Administrative Licensing Law can they be forced out of business.

And it's illegal for any local government to drive people out of their legal business without paying them compensation.

By ensuring that all shops along one of the streets in Moutai town sell white wine, local officials have put their own interests above that of others, because by doing so they can boast of having a "better local image" and get publicity.

But by forcing the closure of so many shops, they have seriously violated the shopkeepers' rights to do business and are guilty of high-handedness.