China View: Prison Population Continues To Rise As Rigid Policies Intensify
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China has an estimated prison population of 1.69 million people as of 2018, which is the second largest in the world. However, true numbers are largely unknown due to the veil of secrecy surrounding the Chinese penal system. This is partially due to recent surges in crimes and illegal activity as well as the country’s high conviction rate. There are concerns from citizens and local activist groups that many of these prisoners do not receive fair trials and are subjected to harsh treatment in these jails and detention centers.
Number of sentenced prisoners in China from 1979 to 2018 (in 1,000s)
Many prisoners and detainees in these facilities are required to work for little to no compensation. Local organizations and former prisoners have reported that inmates are forced to work through a system known as “reform through labor”. It is reported that forced labor is used to produce goods that supply major brands around the world. In cities such as Jinxiang, Guilin, Tonghua, and Yantai there are reports that products ranging from handbags, wreaths, wiring for household appliances, and garlic are being processed in prisons. Prisoners who fail to meet production quotas are said to receive immediate punishment ranging from denial of food to beatings.
Since 1949, China has developed a network of penal forced labor facilities to hold both criminals and political dissidents to administer punishment and rehabilitation. Chairman Mao Zedong believed that the primary function of the criminal justice system was to eliminate “evil individuals” and “deter others from committing the same acts through fear of punishment”. Penalties during Mao’s era included public surveillance, imprisonment, and the death penalty. These penalties played a powerful role in stigmatizing the prisoners and discouraging the public. Mass trials (gongshendahui) and mass sentencing rallies were also utilized to scare the public. Under Mao’s rule, reform through labor was also widely adopted. This was a formal sentence to confinement in a prison farm or factory where criminals were required to conduct collective labor.
In the 1980s, the country suffered from steadily increasing crime rates. In response, the government implemented the “Strike Hard” (yanda) policy in 1981. The first strike hard campaign was launched in 1983 and subsequent campaigns were executed in 1996 and 2001. The Strike Hard policy requires police, prosecution, and judges to address crimes with severity and swiftness. “Severity requires harsher punishments, while swiftness intends higher efficiency by quickening criminal proceedings”. During the strike hard campaign, public arrests and sentencing rallies were routinely performed to show the state’s authority in order to deter potential criminals. These campaigns also contributed to the overcrowding of prisons.
During the Eighth National Conference of Labor Reform Works in 1981, prison labor camps were criticized for their low productivity. In 1984 the Ministry of Justice issued a mandate requiring labor camps to improve their infrastructure, team organization, and financial system to increase output. The government has also made efforts to improve the prison since 2003 through a prison renovation project. This aimed to correct imbalances between “the prison system’s heavy financial burden from its personnel and operating expenses”, which led to increased corruption and misconduct between prison officials.
During the crackdowns from 2009 to 2011, 4,781 people were arrested, including gang members, governmental officials, and judges. On June 13, 2010, the Ministry of Public Security launched the fourth nationwide Strike Hard campaign to “severely crack down on every type of serious violent crime.” In the first 5 months of the crackdown, officials uncovered over 515,000 cases and over 457,000 criminal suspects were arrested. Although these crackdowns proved effective against crime, many observers were concerned by the erosion of China’s rule of law. For example, Li Zhuang, who was a criminal defense lawyer was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2010 for allegedly inciting a client to provide false testimony.
“Like me, many prisoners had been detained without trial, and they would be released after a few days or months, but it didn’t matter if you were guilty or not, you were going to work in there,”
-Stuart Foster, ex-inmate at the Baiyun Detention Center
There are still concerns that conditions in these prisons remain harsh. From 2012 to 2013, Falun Gong practitioners claimed that Hebei Province Women’s Prison were producing towels, diapers, and cloth products for the Hebei Yikang Knitting and Cotton Company. Practitioners who were sent to Inner Mongolia Women’s Prison claim that they were producing textiles, chopsticks, and buckwheat for export. Forced labor has become more prevalent as domestic manufacturers are under increasing pressure to stay competitive with other countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
During his tenure as the Minister of Justice between 2017 and 2018, Zhang Jun pushed for the expansion of prison capacity and prioritized reforming criminals into “law-abiding citizens” through various reformation programs, which include “ideological indoctrination, scientific knowledge and vocational skills”. During this time the government was also adopting the Combining Leniency and Severity, which was an attempt to modify and replace the Strike Hard policy, which emphasized the use of excessive punishment. This policy imposed harsh penalties on a small minority of serious crimes, while encouraging more lenient sentences for the majority of other crimes.
New threats continue to threaten security and stability in the country such as telemarketing scams, human trafficking, and domestic violence. Other crimes such as terrorism, corruption, cybercrime, and organized crime have also increased dramatically. In response, the government has instituted new policies such as the Public Order Administrative Punishments Law (POAPL) in 2023. The POAPL enhances the capacity of the police by “allowing public security agencies to penalize behaviors that were previously deemed morally inappropriate”.
This policy also creates stricter punishments for certain behaviors such as cheating on exams and flying a drone without permission, which now carry penalties including detention. The Chinese Prison Law states that inmates have rights to continuing academic and vocational education. It also states that the prisons should fulfill their responsibility of delivering such education. These programs are supposed to help criminals reintegrate into society. However, following release many people struggle to find employment with a criminal record. This stigma of being formerly incarcerated also seems to disproportionately impact women.
