The government should create an environment for the people to solve disputes through negotiation under the legal framework, says an article of China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

Some residents of a community in an area striding the borders of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province have hired martial arts masters to train them so they are able to counter the harassment of security guards hired by the community's property management company.

The malcontent house owners were reluctant to pay the property management company because of bad service they received. The property management company took revenge by making trouble for the residents. And relations between the residents and the company became deadlocked.

The root cause of the conflict between the two sides is the absence of government intervention when the tension accumulated. The Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei governments all stood idly by, until the story was exposed by the media.

When there is no public service from a government, the law of the jungle prevails. The people can only resort to tit-for-tat ways to defend their interests.

Eventually, the Hebei provincial government stepped in to help resolve the dispute. The community has a new property company, and the security guard team leader is now under investigation. A residents' committee has also been set up to solve any future disputes through dialogue and negotiations.

Governments should draw lessons from this incident, and fulfill their legal responsibilities as basic public service providers and maintainers of social order.