An ethnic Mongolian man called Huugjilt, who was executed in 1996 for rape and murder, was exonerated on Monday at a retrial by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Higher People's Court. The new verdict brought mixed feelings to Huugjilt's family and the whole society.

There can be injustices in China in which innocent people were erroneously sentenced to death. But China is not a country deaf to obvious blunders. Huugjilt has been exonerated. The case of Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995 for raping and murdering a woman and who was another suspected victim of a miscarriage of justice, has been transferred to the Higher People's Court of Shandong Province for reinvestigation. Chinese society has a desire for error correction and justice will finally prevail.

There are voices demanding the individuals responsible for Huugjilt's injustice be prosecuted and penalized. It's noticeable that the Inner Mongolian public security bureau has decided to further investigate the case and punish the relevant individuals. The authorities have the resolution to advance the rule of law; they were not forced to reexamine Huugjilt's case.

The exoneration of Huugjilt is the first step. The follow-ups not only include State compensation and prosecution of those in a position of responsibility, but also society's reflection on the case.

In the past, Chinese security authorities had long-pursued a high crime clearance rate, to deter criminals and murderers.

It probably served as one of the reasons why China had a lower rate of murder cases than its Western counterparts. But that also led to a few unjust cases.

The revision of the criminal procedure law in 1996 has helped decrease the number of miscarriages of justice. In 2012, the law was revised a second time, which reduced the practice of extorting confessions by torture and made a revolutionary step forward in the protection of suspects. China has built its rule of law step by step. Nowadays, procedural justice and a lifelong responsibility system for handling cases has been established in China. Advancing the rule of law is not a mere slogan.

As a matter of fact, cases of injustice can be found in all countries, including the West. The most important thing is that the process of handling the case must be strictly in accordance with the law and be transparent.

Huugilt's family and most of the public have welcomed the posthumous pardon. We have seen from the case the problems of the legal system as well as hope. We are living in a country plagued with a myriad of loopholes, but the government and the public have the willingness to improve the country.

The authorities and society should have a zero-tolerance attitude toward unjust cases. The factors that resulted in these cases should be eradicated in order to make Chinese society safer, and the process of advancing the rule of law shouldn't be reversed.