Striking a police officer is a serious offence, in any country. In China, it’s a violation of the country’s Criminal Law. And being drunk is not an excuse, especially when driving, as one man in our very own Jiangsu found out this past weekend.
Last Friday evening, 17 February, police in Zhenjiang chose to set up a check point for drivers who may have had a few pre-weekend drinks with their dinner. But one Mr. Liu who they pulled over was not for cooperating.
A representative of the Runzhou division of Zhenjiang Traffic Police told a reporter for the Yangtze Evening News that they had set up their check near the entrance of Jiangxi Expressway along the City’s Changjiang Lu.
At about 20:40, they stopped Liu, who was driving a locally-registered minibus with the license number, “苏L877**”.
Using their high-speed breathalyser, the officers had sufficient reason to believe Liu was driving under the influence and to therefore take him to a local hospital for blood tests according to law.
This is when things started getting ugly. Along the way, Liu struggled in the police car and repeatedly shouted, “The police are killing someone” (民警杀人), and made all kinds of threats against the officers.
An emotional Lui went on to kick the door of the police car and strike an unsuspecting officer four times, scratching two others in the process. He also verbally abused the attending police officers.
After arriving at Zhenjiang First People’s Hospital, with Liu still not cooperating to give a blood sample, police took it in their powers to force such under their authority of the law.
While Liu obviously faces potential penalties for the crime of drunk driving, likely the revoking of his driver’s license and a period of detention of less than 6 months, the crime of striking an officer is more interesting.
Article 277 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, which deals with crimes of impairing public service, states that those obstructing state functionaries from performing their duties according to law, by means of violence or threat, may face a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, criminal detention, a non-custodial sentence or fine.
