Chinese Farmer Sentence to Life for Evading Highway Tolls

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Communism is the inevitable result of the liberal expansion of government. Once set in motion, the growth of government cannot be halted without direct actions to do so. Eventually, such systems become oppressive, and the freedoms of the people dwindle dramatically. Liberals may think they can stop the expansion of government before it becomes a tyranny; or perhaps it becoming a system like what existed in the Soviet Union, or the one that has been ruling in Communist China, is their goal.

The iron fist of the Chinese system, through its courts, recently sentenced a farmer to life in prison for evading highway tolls. A massive public outcry erupted, and unlike the hardline communists of the past, the Chinese court is actually considering retrying the case.

Could the communists be losing their grip?

The farmer is Shi Jianfeng, and the life imprisonment sentence was given because he has avoided highway tolls adding up to more than 3.68 million yuan ($560,000). He was also fined 2 million yuan ($302,000). His method was to mount fake military license plates on his two trucks so they could avoid paying tolls more than 2,300 times between May 2008 and January 2009 when he ran a business transporting gravel. Military vehicles don't have to pay highway tolls in China.

The uproar by the Chinese population was so great over the excessive punishment, especially when considering that in China shorter sentences have been given out for the more serious crimes like rape or murder, that the courts found itself forced to try to defend its decision.

Out of this the argument that highway tolls are too high has also emerged.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

China to retry farmer given life for evading tolls - Associated Press/Yahoo News