1983 "Strike Hard" Anti-crime Campaign

The 1983 "Strike Hard" Anti-crime Campaign (simplified Chinese: 严厉打击刑事犯罪活动; traditional Chinese: 嚴厲打擊刑事犯罪活動), or 1983 "Stern Blow" Anti-crime Campaign, was a massive anti-crime campaign which began in September 1983 and received support from Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China.[1][2][3][4][5] The campaign lasted for three years and five months, and was launched because of the nationwide worsening public safety after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).[4][6][7][8]

During the "three battles" of the "Strike Hard" campaign, some 197,000 criminal groups were cracked down, 1.772 million people were arrested and 1.747 million people received legal punishment, with 24,000 sentenced to death, which had an immediate positive effect on public safety.[1][7][8][9] However, controversies also arose, such as whether some of the legal punishments were too harsh and whether the legal processes of many cases were complete and rigorous.[2][3][7][8][9]

Brief history

Background

After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 and the launch of Reform and Opening-up in 1978, crime rates in China—including property crimes—were surging according to Chinese government, and as response the "Strike Hard" campaign was launched to counter such surge in criminal offenses.[1][7][8] According to the Ministry of Public Security of China, in 1980 there were over 750,000 criminal cases nationwide and 50,000 were "serious cases", in 1981 the numbers were 890,000 and 67,000, and in 1982 the numbers were 740,000 and 64,000.[7][10]

Progress and results

The "Strike Hard" campaign was launched during the early stage of legal re-construction in China when the legal system had been almost destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.[6][11][12] The criminal law of China came into effect in 1980 and the new Constitution of China was passed in 1982;[13] subsequently, the campaign was formally launched in September 1983 and lasted until January 1987, receiving support from Deng Xiaoping.[8][9]

There were three main battles of the "Strike Hard" campaign.[7][8][9] In total, some 197,000 criminal groups were cracked down, 1.772 million people were arrested, 321,000 were re-educated through labor and 1.747 million people received legal punishment, with 24,000 sentenced to death (mainly in the first battle), which had an immediate positive effect on public safety.[1][7][8][9] A number of people arrested (some even received death penalty) were children or relatives of government officials at various levels, including the grandson of Zhu De, demonstrating the principle of "all are equal before the law".[6][7][8]

Controversies

However, some of the cases in the campaign were actually "unjust, false, wrongful cases" and some people received overly harsh punishments, resulting in legal controversies, in addition to the fact that the long-term effect of "Strike Hard" campaign on improving public safety has been widely disputed.[2][3][7][8][9]

See also

References

  1. "China rejects "strike hard" anti-crime policy for more balanced approach". People's Daily. 2007-03-14. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  2. Trevaskes, Susan (2002). "Courts on the Campaign Path in China: Criminal Court Work in the "Yanda 2001" Anti-Crime Campaign". Asian Survey. 42 (5): 673–693. doi:10.1525/as.2002.42.5.673. hdl:10072/6536. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 10.1525/as.2002.42.5.673.
  3. Tanner, Murray Scot (2000). "State Coercion and the Balance of Awe: The 1983-1986 "Stern Blows" Anti-Crime Campaign". The China Journal. 44 (44): 93–125. doi:10.2307/2667478. ISSN 1324-9347. JSTOR 2667478.
  4. "Strike Hard!: Anti-Crime Campaigns and Chinese Criminal Justice, 1979-1985". Cornell University. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  5. "邓小平1983年因何痛下决心要全国"严打"?". Renmin Wang (in Chinese). 2012-01-19. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  6. "Detentions, torture, executions: how China dealt with mafia in the past". South China Morning Post. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  7. Tao, Ying (2010-10-20). "1983年"严打":非常时期的非常手段". Renmin Wang (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  8. ""严打"政策的前世今生". China Criminal Justice (in Chinese). 2010-07-01. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  9. Cui, Min. "反思八十年代"严打"". Yanhuang Chunqiu (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  10. ""严打"在1983". Phoenix Television (in Chinese). 2008-07-15. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  11. "China's Legal Encounter with the West - Foreign Policy Research Institute". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  12. Leese, Daniel; Engman, Puck (2018-06-25). Victims, Perpetrators, and the Role of Law in Maoist China: A Case-Study Approach. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-053365-1.
  13. "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China". PERMANENT MISSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND OTHRE INTERNATIONAL ORGNAZITIONS IN VIENNA. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
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