Crime in the People's Republic of China
Encyclopedia
Crime is present in various forms in the People's Republic of China. Common forms of crime
include drug trafficking, money laundering
, fraud
, human trafficking
, corruption
, black marketeering, and circulation of fake currencies.
was established in 1949 and from 1949 to 1956, the transformation of common ownership
of the means of production
was completed. During this time, the new government destroyed the influence of the criminal gangs and cleared away narcotics and gambling. Crime rate significantly declined in the country because of these reforms. During the period of 1949 to 1956, larceny
, arson
, rape
, murder
and robbery
were major nonpolitical offenses. The majority of the economic crimes were committed by the capitalists who refused to pay taxes, stole public property and engaged in bribery
.
Some economic offenses were committed by government officials which included improperly taking public property and accepting bribes. Between 1957 and 1965, no incidents of crime occurred in some rural ares and the level of public security was generally good. Crime rates increased later. The year 1981 represented a peak in crime never seen before in the country., this occurred shortly after economic reform in the late 1970s of which allowed some elements of a market economy
. Below is a comparison reported cases of crime from 1977 to 1988 (excluding economic crimes):
Crime by youth increased rapidly in the 1980s. Crime by youths consisted 60.2% of total crime in 1983, 63.3% in 1984, 71.4% in 1985, 72.4% in 1986, and 74.3% in 1987. The number of fleeing criminals increased over the years. Economic crimes have increased in recent years. From 1982 to 1988, the total number of economic crimes were 218,000.
In 1989, a total of 76,758 cases of economic offenses were registered which included bribery, smuggling and tax evasion
. The changes in economic policy had influence in the characteristics of criminality. Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
, crime has increased and diversified.
rule led by the Communist Party of China
, the power of the criminals is also strong enough and corruption is prevalent among government employees. The criminal organizations have acquired more weapons and vehicles which are often of better quality than that of the police force.
In 1995, more than 100,000 illegal small arms were captured nationwide. From January to July 1996,
approximately 300,000 illegal small arms were seized from fourteen provinces of the country.
Various types of violent crime has become common in PRC. Restaurants and hotels in the country extort high prices from guests, and those who show resistance are beaten or detained. Threatening of opponents in business operations is common.
Corruption is common among government employees. Between 1978 and 2003, an estimated $50 billion was smuggled out of the country by corrupt officials. A legal verdict can be changed from guilt to innocence, death sentence can turn into not-guilty verdict and length of prison terms can be reduced by bribing officials. The armed forces employs naval vessels and airplanes for various smuggling activities. The police stations often open covert gambling houses, or they can provide protection for them. In 2009, 106,000 public officials in China were convicted of corruption.
The People's Republic of China is a supply, transit and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for various purposes. The majority of trafficking in PRC is internal and this domestic trafficking is the most significant human trafficking problem in the country. Approximately 10,000-20,000 victims are trafficked each year. There is also international trafficking of Chinese citizens. Women are lured through false promises of legitimate employment into commercial sexual exploitation in Taiwan
, Thailand
, Malaysia, and Japan
. Chinese men are smuggled to countries throughout the world for exploitative labor. Women and children are trafficked into PRC from Mongolia
, Burma, North Korea
, Russia
, and Vietnam
for forced labor and sexual slavery.
PRC is a major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle
. Growing domestic drug abuse is a significant problem in PRC. Available estimates place the domestic spending on illegal drugs to be $17 billion.
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
include drug trafficking, money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, black marketeering, and circulation of fake currencies.
History
The People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was established in 1949 and from 1949 to 1956, the transformation of common ownership
Common ownership
Common ownership is a principle according to which the assets of an enterprise or other organization are held indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or by a public institution such as a governmental body. It is therefore in contrast to public ownership...
of the means of production
Means of production
Means of production refers to physical, non-human inputs used in production—the factories, machines, and tools used to produce wealth — along with both infrastructural capital and natural capital. This includes the classical factors of production minus financial capital and minus human capital...
was completed. During this time, the new government destroyed the influence of the criminal gangs and cleared away narcotics and gambling. Crime rate significantly declined in the country because of these reforms. During the period of 1949 to 1956, larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
, arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
were major nonpolitical offenses. The majority of the economic crimes were committed by the capitalists who refused to pay taxes, stole public property and engaged in bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
.
Some economic offenses were committed by government officials which included improperly taking public property and accepting bribes. Between 1957 and 1965, no incidents of crime occurred in some rural ares and the level of public security was generally good. Crime rates increased later. The year 1981 represented a peak in crime never seen before in the country., this occurred shortly after economic reform in the late 1970s of which allowed some elements of a market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
. Below is a comparison reported cases of crime from 1977 to 1988 (excluding economic crimes):
| Year | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of cases | 548,415 | 535,698 | 636,222 | 757,104 | 890,281 | 748,476 | 610,478 | 514,369 | 542,005 | 547,115 | 570,439 | 827,706 |
| Incidents of criminal case per 10,000 people | 5.8 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 7.5 |
Crime by youth increased rapidly in the 1980s. Crime by youths consisted 60.2% of total crime in 1983, 63.3% in 1984, 71.4% in 1985, 72.4% in 1986, and 74.3% in 1987. The number of fleeing criminals increased over the years. Economic crimes have increased in recent years. From 1982 to 1988, the total number of economic crimes were 218,000.
In 1989, a total of 76,758 cases of economic offenses were registered which included bribery, smuggling and tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
. The changes in economic policy had influence in the characteristics of criminality. Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
, crime has increased and diversified.
Current situation
Although the PRC has a single-partySingle-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
rule led by the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, the power of the criminals is also strong enough and corruption is prevalent among government employees. The criminal organizations have acquired more weapons and vehicles which are often of better quality than that of the police force.
In 1995, more than 100,000 illegal small arms were captured nationwide. From January to July 1996,
approximately 300,000 illegal small arms were seized from fourteen provinces of the country.
Various types of violent crime has become common in PRC. Restaurants and hotels in the country extort high prices from guests, and those who show resistance are beaten or detained. Threatening of opponents in business operations is common.
Corruption is common among government employees. Between 1978 and 2003, an estimated $50 billion was smuggled out of the country by corrupt officials. A legal verdict can be changed from guilt to innocence, death sentence can turn into not-guilty verdict and length of prison terms can be reduced by bribing officials. The armed forces employs naval vessels and airplanes for various smuggling activities. The police stations often open covert gambling houses, or they can provide protection for them. In 2009, 106,000 public officials in China were convicted of corruption.
The People's Republic of China is a supply, transit and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for various purposes. The majority of trafficking in PRC is internal and this domestic trafficking is the most significant human trafficking problem in the country. Approximately 10,000-20,000 victims are trafficked each year. There is also international trafficking of Chinese citizens. Women are lured through false promises of legitimate employment into commercial sexual exploitation in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Malaysia, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Chinese men are smuggled to countries throughout the world for exploitative labor. Women and children are trafficked into PRC from Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, Burma, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
for forced labor and sexual slavery.
PRC is a major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)
The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most...
. Growing domestic drug abuse is a significant problem in PRC. Available estimates place the domestic spending on illegal drugs to be $17 billion.
See also
- Corruption in the People's Republic of China
- Illegal drug trade in the People's Republic of ChinaIllegal drug trade in the People's Republic of ChinaThe illegal drug trade in China is influenced by factors such as history, location, size, population, and current economic conditions which are good. China has one-fifth of the world's population and a large and expanding economy. Opium has played an important role in Chinese history since before...
- Prostitution in the People's Republic of ChinaProstitution in the People's Republic of ChinaShortly after taking power in 1949, the Communist Party of China embarked upon a series of campaigns that purportedly eradicated prostitution from mainland China by the early 1960s. Since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in mainland China not only...
- Terrorism in the People's Republic of China
- Law enforcement in the People's Republic of ChinaLaw enforcement in the People's Republic of ChinaLaw enforcement in the People's Republic of China consists of an extensive public security system and a variety of enforcement procedures are used to maintain order in the country...