"I totally support the abolishment of the laojiao system. It is inappropriate to punish petitioners through the system, and the punishment should not be simply imposed on those who criticized the Party and the country."

XIE XIAODAN, deputy mayor and police chief of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, said about the re-education through labor system at a group meeting of Guangzhou People's Congress on Tuesday.

(China Daily 01/25/2013 page2)