A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC]

IN SHENQIU COUNTY in Central China's Henan province, vehicles of law enforcement agencies and bureaus in charge of transportation, environmental protection and city construction can be seen driving on the roads with no license plates, which is against the law. Beijing News commented on Monday:

Even though they are used in a different way than private cars, the law enforcement vehicles and vehicles of administrative departments are still automobiles. Therefore, they should still display license plates if they are used on public roads in accordance with the nation's Law on Road Traffic Safety.

Why then do those administrative bureaus not display number plates on their vehicles? It is a legal requirement.

The reasons given by some of the bureaus are that they lack the money to buy the plates or the procedure is too complicated. But local residents do manage to pay for their license plates and go through the necessary rigmarole to acquire them.

Whether the vehicles have a government identity doesn't alter the fact that they are legally required to display license plates, and therefore the conduct of these bureaus is illegal. All people should abide by the law, but the administrative bureaus still believe they have special rights.

No tolerance should be shown to any exceptionalism on the part of the authorities.