Entrapment

钓鱼执法 (diào yú zhí fǎ): entrapment (literally: enforcing the law by fishing)

The heading text reads, “Entrapment.” The car below is thinking, “So many fishhooks!”

The net is labeled, “Catch black taxis.” The man being used as bait is saying, "Ow, my stomach hurts. Can you bring me to the hospital? I'll give you money”

Entrapment is when a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit an offense which the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit.

Perhaps the best known example of entrapment in China is the October 2009 case of Sun Zhongjie. A new driver for a Shanghai construction company, Sun was stopped by a man on the side of the road, shivering in the weather. The man asked for a ride, and Sun complied. Though he did not request it, the man handed Sun money when he reached his destination. Next, the man revealed his identity as an under-cover police officer and detained Sun for driving an unlicensed taxi. Sun's conviction was overturned after netizens let loose a torrent of pressure.

The Sun Zhongjie case is parodied in the "War of Internet Addiction."

A nearly identical case, dubbed “fishing gate” occurred a month earlier in Shanghai, suggesting how common entrapment was in the city in 2009.

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