China’s rule of law is more pomp than circumstance, as told by the WSJ’s piece “A Bar Tussle Ends in a Beijing Jail: A Young Expat’s Story” by Sofia McFarland. Any foreigner residing and doing business in China should read this piece, as it parallels much of the frustrations, conceits, deceits, and goings-on we face on a daily base in our lives in China.

The article follows a young Swede named Noak who is thrown into a Beijing jail after a fight outside a bar. Though his accuser eventually not only says Noak was not responsible for the fight (while still taking a cash compensation), Noak still spends months waiting in vain in China for his case to be heard and his innocence vindicated.

His innocence is never really vindicated, but he is allowed finally to leave China.