i’m not relieved but i do enjoy the outcome of this case. it’s not only the justice but the fact internet is the major source of influence to help the case obtain the attention of the central gov’t. despite of all the banning and suppression, voices of the crowd can not be 100% muffled. i always believed internet should have the power. then i was depressed when i found how internet was overwhelmingly controlled. but even after they deleted the original news link they can not take away the knowledge from those who already read. the case is not unique at all; you almost expect things like that to happen the way it did. corruption, connection & money = power rules because justice doesn’t put food in your mouth*. whatever made this scandal, which excited enough snowflakes to roll into a snowball, should happen more often. i see the light of democracy from it. the influence of public opinions on a court case maybe good and bad. but mass participation and discussion is no doubt signs of democracy.

*
i just read an argument. i think it’s quite valid:
“I think there is definately something to the argument about China being morally adrift, unsure about correct standards of behaviour … but at the same time, the particular example of the onion cart seems to me to be an example of something different. In many civilised but pre-modern societies, it was a commonly accepted norm that crimes against and crimes committed by different levels of society would be treated differently. Thus the killing of a lower class woman by an upper class woman would be punished by a fine, while a killing of an upper class woman would probably end up with an execution. In China’s case, I am thinking particularly of the Confucian gentry. There were numerous benefits for passing the civil service exams, not least being immunity from certain types of punishment and interogation.”
– good mention on the confucian tradition. you read this in The Story of the Stone/The Dream of the Red Chamber. it’s truly a tradition which i think should be eliminated if China wishes to give its countrymen more reasons to be proud. on the other hand, it also alarms me since the tradition is so deep-rooted thus making it difficult to remove. thinking about china always make me ambivalent.