As former US Ambassador to China Gary F. Locke reported in a speech early this year, the concept of equality before the law has deep historical roots. Indeed, in the fourth century BC, the statesman and reformer Shang Yang famously asserted that, “When the prince violates the law, the crime he commits is the same as that of the common people.”
如果习近平选择建立这样的制度，他有强大的法律传统可以援引。正如前美国驻华大使骆家辉在今年出的演讲中所言，法律面前人人平等的观念具有深刻的历史渊源。事实上，在公元前四世纪，政治家、改革家商鞅就说，“王子犯法与庶民同罪。”