Crime Control in China: Understanding the Issues and Policies

This article discusses the social transition in China and the rise of severe issues related to crime control and policing. It explores the types of crimes in China, measures for controlling crime rate, and the penal philosophy of China. The article emphasizes the importance of criminology in understanding and controlling crime in China.

Running head: CRIME CONTROL IN CHINA
Crime Control in China
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Crime and Social Order
In China, there has been a social transition from a state socialist command economy
to a market economy. These alterations have been made from every aspect of the Chinese
society. However, the transformation of China have also given rise to severe issues that have
required proper and serious innovation in the roles of state, local agencies and provincial
including the functions of social control and policing. The major problem of crimes in China
is that it attracts increasing scholarly attention and plenty of replies from the government.
There are new motives and opportunities of China associate into criminal and anti-social
activities. Similarly, there are plenty of traditional methods relating to the public security. It
also has an ineffective crime suppression. The major factors that cause crimes consist of
counterrevolutionary remnants, feudalist, influence of western culture, culture revolution and
laws that are inappropriate.
Presently China is considered to be an exceptional historical period. The individuals
residing in China have been influenced by a wave of extreme individualism (Welsh
Farrington & Taheri, 2015). Their motives are anti-social and are rushed towards the danger.
Few of the individuals had followed this trend. A few specified areas of China have been
permeated by the influence of the criminal society outside the borders. The evil forces and
underworld run rampant where individuals had become local tyrants and their criminal
activities were common. The Communist Party of China deals with the crimes that fall under
the rule of law identified by it. There have been rapid developments in the field of criminal
and public law. This is because of the effect of traditional ideas about the legal systems, the
purpose of the idea is to pay greater attention for the execution of the law that existed for the
security laws of the public (Lippman, 2017). Criminology is required as a science for
understanding and controlling the problems of crimes. The economic crimes have more
impact in China. Inside China, there is urgency need of better knowledge regarding the

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impact and reasons of crime. The scholars and practitioners have to associate in the research
process of on the issues and policies related to the administration of the crimes. Developing
knowledge in Crimes is essential for reducing it. However, China generally provides a vital
concept for the advancement of the theories and practices of criminology (Wu et al., 2015).
For controlling the crime rate in China, relevant and necessary research programs are
essential. Criminologists can access the data sources from there.
Criminology plays a major role for the securing the state as China has a mass history
related to this. Therefore, the problems of crime have always been a significant barrier to the
informed research on it. The western criminologists have difficulty in comprehending the
useful criminological research that cannot be solved without cooperation. The public security
officials believe that discharge of local crime statistics and the reporting of the crimes by the
media would be harmful to the society by increasing the fear of crimes by showing the
capability of law enforcement (Collins, Ricks & Van Meter, 2015). The chief issue with the
validity of the official crime data is the process of recording and informing the administrative
punishment statistics and the data interpretation by the police who treat the crime statistics as
a measure of police performance. The most fundamental issue with such methods is that the
probability of crimes becomes less credible and it effects the organs of the police security.
China regards indices both punishment and crimes that includes both social facts and the
general measure of civility. Hong Kong is treated as the evidence that explains that the city is
generally safe for visitors, tourists and businesspersons (Gibbs, McGarrell & Sullivan, 2015).
However, this defines that the statistics of crime and the interpretation of it is considered to
be the objects of intense control.

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Kinds of Crimes in China
China is known for having the maximum population in the world since it has plenty of
experience in knowledge. China also has certain measures for controlling the crimes, as it is
important for the international comparative understanding of crime and punishment
(Broadhurst, Lee & Chan, 2016). Therefore, crime is regarded as an activity that should be
diminished from socialist China. Firstly, street crimes became quite popular in China and it
increased due to rapid industrialization. This has accompanied by soaring the problems of
crimes. China generally experiences the history of plenty of industrialized countries in the
West where the concept of increasing the crime problem was an inescapable by product of
urbanization and industrialization. Along with rapid urbanization, there have been rise in the
social inequality that contributes to the soaring crime problems. However, over the years,
China have modified from one of the equal societies to one of the most unequal societies in
the world (Chin, 2016). Generally, the combination effect of social inequality and
urbanization in the areas of urban China deteriorate the situation of crime since the
urbanization can only be treated as semi-urbanization. Thus, street crimes were very common
in China those days and hence it should be eradicated to make it a safer city.
Secondly, along with street crimes, corruption and white collar crimes were also a
part of the crimes. The economic reform of China in the past years had produced high wealth
and contributed to the reduction of the level of poverty population in the world. For there
have been a lack of an independent judicial system and supervision from a free media and
political power that tend to seek every chance to commodity their power (Christie, 2016). The
transition of China from a planned economy towards a market one is incomplete under one
party rule. There has been explosive growth of corruption and other forms of white-collar
crimes. The people of China have been angry towards the concept of corruption as it was one
of the major factors for the tragic pro-democracy movements. During that time, Corruption

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was regarded as only one type of white-collar crimes in China (Reid, 2015). There were other
kinds of white-collar crimes as well that existed in China. It included corporate pollution,
financial fraud, safety crime, unsafe products and intellectual property theft. In China, the
media and scholars of China use the concept of white-collar crime. The term white-collar
crimes were referred to as economic crimes since the former theory had a wider definition
that had the power to distinguish between the crimes that have been carried out by both the
upper class and lower class. Thirdly, political crime was also popular along with white-collar
and street collar crimes. There have been economic reforms presently that had reduced the
scale of political crimes (Kwong, 2015). The government of China deals with different
crimes including street crimes and political crimes that have been treated while corporate and
white-collar criminals get relatively lenient punishment.
Therefore, there exists plenty of factors that affect the practice of philosophy in
punishment. Politics and culture are considered the two most outstanding ones among others.
The Chinese penal philosophy designate stating that even criminals can be altered through
proper guidance of the instituition. The purpose of punishment is to make the criminals learn
a lesson about the crimes they committed. Particularly, China was not punitive in nature. The
issues of punishment are in China are oftenly criticized for committing human rights that can
be violated (Jones & Vagg, 2017).
Crime control
The judgment for controlling a crime element is executed by a public security organ.
There are measures and methods that should be followed for controlling the crime rate in
China. According to the Chinese criminal procedural law, the police who are in charge of the
detention, investigation will look after the criminal cases (Chui, W & Lo, 2016). A criminal
component who is sentenced to control must abide by the rules during the time it is being

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taken care of. Firstly, one must abide by the administrative regulations and laws. The
supervision must be submitted. That individual will not be able to exercise or execute the
existing rights (Zheng, 2018). It consists of freedom of speech, association and the
demonstration without the approval of the organ. A report must be able to make his own
activities related to the rules of the organ executing the control. The crime can also be
controlled when the existing legislations are applied in the situations. The police have high
discretionary powers to detain a suspect. Not all lawbreaking is defined as crime in China.
The act committed must be serious in nature so that it can be prohibited by the criminal law
(Hilal et al., 2014). The control or prevention measures depends on the nature of the crime.
Minor crimes are treated as violations and are punished by the police.
The judicial organs of China have published a whole range of regulations and rules
that have been designed to fight crimes. These are considered to be effective in prohibiting
the abuse of such measures. The judicial proceedings of China have improved and are fair,
democratic and efficient in upholding the authority of laws. It also preserves the legitimate
interests and rights of the citizens. The purpose of this is to make sure that effective
supervision over the handling of the case in all the stages for safe efficiency and justice. This
law governs the crimes (Bao, 2017). As per the police statistics, there are particular towns in
Hong Kong that suffer from a high rate of delinquency issues. The juvenile crimes in those
times raised a concern about the occurrence of juvenile crimes in the State. There have been
limited effectiveness of the criminal justice system in the crime control zone that has been
identified from 1960. China had come up with various kinds of strategies of the community
crime prevention in order to associate the common people in the war against crimes.
However, China is known as a country for its legacy of crime prevention programs.
Apart from prevention programs, punishment is also considered a way of reducing
and preventing crimes. The penal philosophy of China acts a measure to control the crime

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rate in China. The basic characteristic of the penal philosophy of China is to make use of the
labor as a correctional method to convert the offenders into civil citizens of the nation. Such
an ideological change can be beneficial for the offenders as it will alter them to be a better
person in future (Christie, 2016). The purpose to change these offenders can be done by
equipping them into correctional homes and probation. In such places, the effectiveness takes
place and the individuals become better individuals. The prison population of China is
therefore the result of the previous national history by having major willingness to change
and political ideas. This country is not entirely punitive but there are issues that are linked to
the punishment process in China. It has been argued and observed that the violation of human
rights exists in the society. Another measure to prevent crimes of China is a method of re-
education through labor. It is treated to be as an administrative method of punishment that is
generally used by the police of China (Gibbs, McGarrell & Sullivan, 2015). By providing
education to the offenders, they will become better persons since they will be taught as to
how committing crimes is not a moral way to survive in the society. In punishing the
criminals, the concept of justice is generally not obtained in the Court but it will also be
delivered to the public who are surviving on the streets.
Lastly, in China the punitiveness lies in the concept of death penalty. Such a theory or
concept has been abolished death penalty in law or practice (Wang et al., 2016). As observed
from the history of China, the role of death penalty has always been a critical one. It has been
used in China over the years and was considered to be a great measure of controlling and
preventing crimes. However, China is still criticized of the practices for punishment that have
been used over the past few decades. The above mentioned theories and concepts are the
existing ways as to how rate of crimes in China can be prevented or controlled.

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