[seanmcdirmid]

None of China’s checks and balances proceed past theory. In reality, they just have a hierarchy and and as long as the top leader says something is ok, it is. Under Hu it was a bit better, since Hu was so weak, but in that case the result of the hierarchy breaking down was an increase in corruption.

Yes, China has laws and those laws are often enforced, you won’t get away with murder probably. But if an official feels like they want to intervene, all bets are off; the only recourse for justice are the whims of an even greater official.

And I’m not saying that China is a dangerous place to live: as long as you don’t go against the party’s (or a family member of such) interest, you aren’t going to be effected by a lack of rule of law (though you still have to be careful of rule by law). The pollution will kill you before anything bad happens to you in china’s legal system.