他她話題:實事求是看待谷開來案庭審

The trial of Gu Kailai for the murder of a British businessman is being hailed in China as a model of openness. The state-owned newspaper, Global Times, says the court appearance this week of the wife of Bo Xilai, the disgraced Communist party "princeling", will strengthen public confidence in the country's legal system. This might have been the case if the process had indeed been open and transparent. It was not.

谷開來因涉嫌謀殺一名英國商人出庭受審一事，在中國被標榜爲開放的典範。官方報紙《環球時報》稱，已倒臺的中共"太子黨"官員薄熙來之妻上週出庭，將增強公衆對中國司法制度的信心。如果庭審過程真的是開放和透明的，公衆的信心也許確實會增強。但事實並非如此。

Too many questions remain unanswered in the stage-managed trial. There were no witnesses called to the stand, apart from a forensics expert. Ms Gu, who reportedly confessed to the crime, was denied the use of her family's chosen lawyer and made to accept an advocate designated by the party. Two British diplomats and a representative of the murdered man's family were present, but the general public and international press were not allowed to watch the proceedings. The details of what was said for and against the defendant are scant, dictated to most media by the official press release and often repeated verbatim. Even if the guilty verdict that most expect is the right one, Ms Gu's fate appears to have been sealed even before the court opened its doors. Far from reinforcing confidence in the courts, the trial highlights the continued failings of China's judicial system.

在這場政府安排的庭審中，有太多的疑問沒有得到解答。除了一名法醫專家外，庭上沒有傳喚任何證人作證。據報道承認罪行的谷開來，被拒絕使用家人挑選的律師，只得被迫接受黨指定的辯護人。兩名英國外交官和被害人家屬的一名代表獲准旁聽，但公衆和外國媒體被拒之門外。外人對控辯雙方的辯論細節瞭解甚少，多數媒體只能得到官方的新聞稿，其內容重複，往往一字不差。即便多數人預期的有罪判決是正確的，谷開來的命運也似乎早在開庭之前就被決定了。這場庭審與其說強化了人們對法庭的信心，不如說暴露了中國司法體系依然存在的缺陷。

The show trial of Ms Gu may in fact turn out to be less about her alleged crimes than about stage-managing a smooth leadership transition for the Communist party in the autumn.

事實上，谷開來的"庭審秀"到頭來也許並不是關於她涉嫌犯下的罪行，而是關於確保中共領導層在今年秋天順利換屆。

Ms Gu's husband, in detention since April, was the high-flying party chief of Chonqing. He had lobbied hard for one of the nine seats in the politburo standing committee, bypassing party organs and appealing directly to the public. But pursuing these unorthodox tactics – while amassing a sizeable fortune – appears to have riled some party leaders. He has been charged with serious, but unspecified breaches of party discipline, however his fate, like his wife's, will be decided in line with the needs of the party rather than the law.

自4月以來一直遭到拘禁的薄熙來，此前是心懷大志的重慶市委書記。他曾經積極爭取"入常"，即成爲中共中央政治局的9名常委之一，在此過程中繞過黨的機關，直接向公衆尋求支持。但是，採用此類非正統的戰術——與此同時聚斂大筆財富——似乎激怒了一些黨內領導人。他被指嚴重違反黨的紀律，但黨並未說明具體是哪些紀律。就像谷開來一樣，他的命運將根據黨的需要（而非法律）來決定。

In the public purge, Mr Bo's family has become a symbol of the sense of entitlement and impunity that many believe are the hallmark of the political elite in China. The party's intention now is presumably to show that no one is above the law, least of all its elite. But the opaque manner in which Ms Gu's trial was conducted proves that the party is not yet ready to make itself publicly accountable. In the long term, this can only be a losing battle. The millions of citizens who have blogged about the Bo affair with increasing accuracy over recent months prove the difficulty of keeping party politics behind closed doors. The public's demand for accountability cannot be ignored forever.

在高度公開化的整肅中，薄家已成爲特權和不受懲罰的象徵——很多人相信，這正是當今中國政壇精英階層的標誌。想必中共現在的意圖是顯示沒有人凌駕於法律之上，尤其是黨內精英。但是谷開來庭審的不透明方式證明，中共還沒有準備好接受公衆問責。長遠來看，這是一場打不贏的戰役。近幾個月來，數以百萬計的中國網民就薄熙來事件在博客上發表文章，其內容的準確性越來越高，這證明把黨內政治隱藏在關緊的大門之後是很難的。不能永遠忽視公衆對問責的訴求。