Rivalry between the housecat Tom and mouse Jerry never ends, much like the story between China's urban management officers and street vendors, who have been staging run-and-chase games for a long time.

City management and law enforcement officers took part in a stare-off on Tuesday night in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.

But as of Tuesday night the game has a new twist. Fifty city management and law enforcement officers took part in a stare-off in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The new strategy consisted of the officers standing in a circle with their hands behind their backs, mouths closed and eyes wide-open. They stood silently, staring at diners eating at a sidewalk booth operated by a nearby restaurant.

The officers stared until the diners could take it no more. Twenty-seven minutes after the staring began, the diners checked out. The booth owner, who had been sitting aside during the stare-off, then moved his tables back inside the restaurant.

This strategy, called "staring eyes mediation" by many netizens, was reportedly widely adopted in Wuhan, although related authorities have not been reached for immediate comment.

Ying Songnian, a professor at China National School of Administration, said law enforcement departments in many Chinese cities are now exploring more flexible ways to transform 'law enforcement' into 'services.' Wuhan's practice is a new method.

Su Zequn, standing member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee, cited a famous sentence from Sun Tzu's The Art of War during his visit to the city management and law enforcement bureau on June 16, urging the bureau to be more civilized and flexible. He said they should seek to "win the battle without having been fought." Wuhan's practice seems to echo Su's remark.

Not everyone agrees with the "staring eyes mediation" method, including Jiang Ming'an, an administrative law professor at Peking University. "It is indeed more civilized than seizing the vendors' properties, but it should just be a temporary compromise," Jiang told The Legal Daily on Wednesday. "If persuasion doesn't work, city management officials should seek aide from the police to enforce the laws, so as to save the dignity of the city officers."

City management and law enforcement authorities must keep the city clean, yet not keep low-income residents from making any money. Their simple and sometimes even rude enforcement tactics has kept them from earning a good reputation with the public for a long time.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Yunxing June 18, 2009)