Wu Jinbiao had a quandary.
Wu, a judge in China’s Shandong province, liked the United States’ judicial system because it represented populism. But Wu also distrusted the system – legal affairs require reasoning, he figured, and jurors could be misled by a skilled attorney into making a decision based on emotion, not reason.
The judge’s solution? Have juries composed of legal professionals, not regular citizens.
That idea is just one of many Wu – along with about 20 other public officials also from the Shandong province – will take back to China after studying at the university.
“The U.S. is the standard against which China measures it success,” said Robert Daly, the director of the university’s Institute for Global Chinese Affairs, which runs the program. The program is part of increasing university involvement with China, Daly said. The business school has a school in the country, and university President Dan Mote has visited China several times.
The group from Shandong is one of about a dozen the institute hosts each year, Daly said. The province has sent a group to the university every year for the past six years, and participants stay in the United States for six months. This year, group members lived in apartments in Silver Spring, said program officials.
Each group takes English lessons, enrolls in courses taught by university faculty and outside experts and receives practical experience from working with and observing American public officials.
The program focuses on training mid-level public administrators in order to create “better governance” in China, Daly said. Although human rights violations deservedly receive more international press, China has a variety of other problems that need work, Daly added, including poor public health, the lack of social safety net, high levels of pollution and uneven economic development. The program works to address all those issues, according to Daly.
Both Wu and Ding Guanyong, a police officer from Shandong, were impressed by the American officials they worked with and the systems of government they observed.
Wu, who sat in on a murder trial in Montgomery County, pinpointed four areas of American society that impressed him: The high level of morality among American citizens, the fairness of the legal system, the social security system and the environmental protections local, state and national governments have in place.
“The legal system is actually based upon morality,” Wu said, speaking through a translator. “[It] takes care of the public need and tries to meet the public need.”
Similarly, Ding, who worked with Greenbelt police officers, said he was impressed by their connection with regular citizens. The hard work and ethics expressed by the officers was also noteworthy, Ding added.
One particularly noteworthy moment, Ding said, was when four officers planned and executed the arrest of a fraud suspect inside a house within one-to-two minutes.
In addition to studying and working with local officials, the participants in the program took some time to enjoy themselves. At a city council meeting last month, roughly 20 of the officials met with council members, taking pictures, laughing and mingling with the public servants of College Park. College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman gave each of the Shandong officials one of his patented “I Heart College Park” stickers.
“Maybe [City Manager Joe Nagro] and I can take an adventure to China someday,” Brayman said.
According to Wu, the trip would definitely be welcome.
“It’s very important to reduce the differences between our two countries,” he said.
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