Veteran lawyer brushes off criticism of being 

a ‘toady,’ ‘fence-sitter’

作者：谢文婷  来源：环球时报（英文版） 

刊登日期：2017年8月11日 22:22:34 

最近更新 2017年8月12日 7:23:08

His supporters praise him for pushing forward China's legal advancement. His opponents criticize him for being a "fence-sitter" who curries favor with the government. Chen Youxi is probably the country's most controversial and divisive lawyer.

他的支持者称赞他推动了中国的法制前进。他的反对者批评他是迎合政府的“骑墙派”。陈有西可能这个国家最具有争议和分歧的律师。

Chen, founder of China's leading legal firm The Capital Equity Legal Group, has recently found himself in the national spotlight.

陈有西，作为中国领先的律师事务所—京衡律师的创立者，已然发现自己正处于整个国家的聚光灯下。

In the most recent controversy, he has been accused of being a toady by "diehard" lawyers, named for their willingness to take cases that oppose the government. These diehard lawyers dubbed him with the slur "a lawyer assigned by officials" for his role representing diehard lawyer Wang Quanzhang in a case brought against Wang by the government.

在最近的争议中，他被死磕派律师指责为谄媚派，这些死磕派律师以敢于接手反对政府的案件而著称。在他代理一起死磕律师王全璋反对政府的案件中，那些死磕律师又诋毁陈有西是“官派律师”。

According to Chen, Wang asked Chen to represent Wang in court. But later Wang's wife said in a statement that Chen had been assigned by "officials." Wang had been detained for allegedly organizing illicit activities disruptive of social order.

据陈有西称，王全璋要求陈有西在法庭上为其辩护。但是，王全璋的妻子在后面的一份声明中称陈有西是受“官方”指派的。王全璋因涉嫌组织破坏社会秩序的非法活动而被拘留。

"I harbor strong antipathy for lawyers assigned by officials. Lawyers should have independent thinking and conduct independent defenses. We're only responsible for the facts, evidence and law," Chen told the Global Times.

“我强烈反感由官方指派的律师。 律师应独立思考，独立辩护。 我们只对事实，证据和法律负责”，陈有西告诉《环球时报》。

Chen said he only decided to offer Wang his assistance after seeing his personal signature on the letter of attorney.

陈有西说，他只是在看到王全璋在委托书上的个人签名后才决定向其提供帮助。

"One of the biggest differences between me and those diehard lawyers lies in the fact that I would never demand to be someone's lawyer, but always wait for the accused to find me," he said.

“我和那些死磕律师之间最大的区别之一在于我永远不会要求成为某人的律师，总是被告委托人找到我，“他说。

Chen admitted that he doesn't think much of those so-called "diehard" lawyers, believing they only "shout slogans" and oppose the government in every matter just to garner attention. They are not seeking truth from facts, he said.

陈有西承认，他对那些所谓的“死磕”律师并没有注意太多，相信他们只是“喊口号”，在每件事情上与政府相对立，只是为了引起注意。他们没有从事实当中去寻求真相,他说。

Unlike most lawyers in China, Chen has 16 years' experience holding important positions in several provincial-level judicial organs in Zhejiang, including in the public security department and the province's higher people's court. Now as a lawyer, he said he tries to survive between the cracks. "On the one hand, I stand up to injustice and corruption within judicial system. On the other hand, when cases of judicial injustice happen, ordinary people like to blame me and believe that it's my fault for these bad results," he said.

与中国大多数律师不同，陈有西拥有在浙江省多个省级司法机关的多个重要职位，包括公安机关和省高级人民法院等单位16年的工作经验。 现在作为一名律师，他说他试图在夹缝之间生存。 “一方面，我在同司法环境中不公正和腐败抗争，另一方面，当司法不公正的情况发生时，普通百姓又责怪我，认为这是我的错，导致了那些不好的结果。”他说道。

Chen, 62, graduated from Zhejiang University in 1982. Upon graduation, he was chosen as one of 200 talented young people to be given government positions.

陈有西，62岁，1982年毕业于浙江大学。毕业后，他被选为200名有才华的年轻人之一而进入政府工作。

In his early days, Chen showed promise as a politician, rising rapidly through the ranks. In his second year after graduation, he become the vice director of the Ninghai county police department. Several years later, he became the secretary for the director of Zhejiang Province's higher people's court.

早年，级别的快速晋升，让陈有西产生成为一名政治家的愿望。在他毕业后的第二年，他就成为宁海县一个局的副局长。几年以后，他成为浙江省高级人民法院院长的秘书。

"In today's environment, people tend to think that I had to have connections to be promoted so quickly, but I'm just the son of a farmer," he said.

“在今天的环境中，人们倾向于认为我晋升如此之快是因为有关系，但是，我只是一个农民的儿子。”他说道。

Chen had set himself the goal of becoming a provincial-level cadre by the age of 40, but the 1989 political turmoil upset his plans. "I was relegated to limbo afterwards," he said.

陈有西为自己设定了在40岁成为厅级干部的目标，但是1989年的政治动乱打乱了他的计划。“后来我被降级工作”，他说道。

Unable to see any future for his career path in government, Chen became a lawyer in 1999. "I did not expect to become so successful as a lawyer. I only wanted to support my family back then," he said.

由于在政府内无法看到任何职业发展的未来，陈有西在1999年成为了一名律师。“我没有想到会成为一名成功的律师。当时，我只是想养活我的家庭”，他说道。

Chen himself is now a billionaire and his law firm has revenues of billions of yuan.

陈有西现在是一名千万富翁，他的律师事务所也达到数亿元的创收。

Chen has four rules he follows when choosing his cases. The first is that the case has to have social impact and can help push forward China's legal development. The second is that he must believe the client has been wrongly accused. The third rule is it must be lucrative. The fourth rule is that the case must be challenging.

陈有西在选择案件时，他有四条规则。 首先是这个案件要有社会影响，有助于推动中国的法制发展。 第二是他必须相信客户是被错误地指控。 第三条规则是也要考虑经济上的效益。 第四条规则是，这个案件必须具有挑战性。

He said that at this stage, the biggest obstacle for him is a lack of time, lamenting the number of goals he has yet to accomplish.

他表示，在现阶段，他面临的最大障碍是时间不够，感叹目前尚未实现自己的目标。

"I want to use a single case to push forward the country's legal development and also I want to put down my personal wisdom and experiences into systematic works for the country's legal construction," he said.

“我想用个案推动国家的法制进程，同时，我也想把我个人的智慧和经验贡献于国家法制建设的系统工作当中”，他说道。

Last year, he represented Lei Yang, a Beijing citizen, in a case which was believed to be a milestone in judicial history. Lei was accidentally killed during a police raid on a Beijing massage parlor last May, arousing nationwide attention on the law enforcement tactics of police.

去年，他代理了北京市民雷洋的案件，该案被认为是司法历史上的一个里程碑。去年五月，雷洋在警察突袭搜查一家按摩院时意外死亡，这引起了全国对警察执法方式的关注。

Chen told the Global Times that Lei's case was significant in restricting the abuse of power by some policemen, even though he didn't achieve the ideal result. "The relative gave up the lawsuit. As a lawyer, I can do nothing more," he said.

陈有西告诉《环球时报》，尽管他没有达到理想的结果，但雷洋案在限制一些警察滥用权力方面仍是重要的。 “亲属放弃了起诉，作为律师，我什么都不能做，”他说。

Lei's family members dropped their case after being given an undisclosed amount in compensation.

雷洋的家属在获得不公开的赔偿金后就放弃了他们的起诉。

During interviews, he made clear that he battles injustice and undesirable elements within the judicial system, but there are still many positive aspects which should be endorsed.

在采访中，他明确指出，虽然他与司法制度中不公正和不公平做斗争，但（国家司法）还有许多积极的方面应该得到认可。

"What I do is resonate with the righteous people within the system to make a change," he said.

“我所做的是引发体制内正直的人的共鸣，从而做出改变”，他说道。

Chen believes this is a useful weapon for him in his various cases. "Compared with most lawyers, I have a better understanding of how the judicial system works in government. Therefore, I can deal with them better," he said.

陈有西相信这是他在各类案件中一个有力的武器。“相较于大部分律师，我对体制内司法体系是如何工作的有更好的理解。因此，我可以和他们更好的打交道”，他说道。

Chen used to provide such suggestions for those diehard lawyers, but only succeeded in incurring their criticism. Now he says he tries to keep his distance from them.

陈有西曾经给那些死磕律师提供这些建议，但是只是更多地引起了他们的批判。现在，他说他尝试和他们保持距离。

However, he is still attacked by them for being a "royalist," "fencesitter" and a "lawyer assigned by officials."

但是，他仍然被他们攻击称为“保皇党”，“骑墙派”和“官派律师”。

Chen has more than 6 million followers on Sina Weibo. On the days he isn't banned from posting, he posts retorts to people who have attacked him.

陈有西在新浪微博有60多万的粉丝。在他没有被禁言的日子里，他向发动攻击他的人发表了反击。

"I think the Internet is an important public opinion platform. We don't have time to make incidents on the Internet. But if I am misunderstood, slandered or attacked, it's necessary for me to clarify things and fight back," he said.

“我认为互联网是一个重要的舆论平台。 我们没有时间在互联网上挑事。 但是，如果我被误解，诽谤或攻击，我有必要澄清事情和反击”，他说道。

However, he does have some degree of understanding of the people who attack him.

但是，他对那些攻击他的人有一定程度的了解。

"Due to my posts being deleted and my inability to make my voice heard on some sensitive questions in the cases I have defended and to reveal more inside stories, many people can't know about the truth and attack me as a result," he said.

“由于我的帖子被删除，我无法为我辩护的一些案件中的敏感问题发声，并透露更多的内部细节，许多人不了解真相，并因此而攻击我。”他说道。

Newspaper headline: Playing the long legal game

新闻标题：在漫长法律游戏中的博弈

（特别声明：英文报道中与事实有出入的地方已更正）