"If police officers do not beat people, what do we keep them for?"

An official with the city bureau for letters and calls in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, was filmed making the above remark as he received a group of petitioners who had been obstructed by police officers outside the bureau office. The authority apologized for the inappropriate comment on Monday and the official received a warning.

(China Daily USA 07/02/2013 page3)