The decision to punish only the real estate developer in a "land-grab" case means officials involved in the scandal go scot-free, says an article in Beijing Evening Post. Excerpt:

It seems government departments and officials that allowed a real estate developer to build villas on a plot earmarked for subsidized housing in Zhengzhou are innocent. Or else, why has only the developer been punished.

Since illegal construction continued for years, it is clear that government bodies such as the urban planning bureau, housing management bureau, land resources bureau and the construction commission knew about it. Even when the case was in the headlines across the country, work on the project continued as if nothing had happened.

One thing is certain, there has to be a common point of interest between government officials and the real estate developer. If some officials hadn't connived with the developer, a plot earmarked for the low-income group housing would not have been used for luxurious villas.

That's why it's imperative that relevant government departments be investigated. The public wants to know whether officials abused their power, and heads of such departments should be punished to warn their peers.

What the Zhengzhou municipal government is trying to do is playing down the role of government departments and officials in the scam in order to protect guilty officials. Many believe the real estate developer was just a puppet; the strings were pulled by some government officials.

So until the government punishes such officials, the public will continue to ask uneasy questions.

(China Daily July 17, 2009)