Centralized Law Enforcement in Contemporary China: The Campaign to "Sweep Away Black Societies and Eradicate Evil Forces"

Main author: Yin, Bo
Other authors: Mou, Yu
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-38416
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic K Law (General)
K Law
description In 2018, China's general secretary, Xi Jinping, announced a three-year war on “black societies and evil forces” and promised to take down various forms of organized crime and evil forces within society. This article examines the operational features of this particular crackdown and how they diverged from previous “strike hard” campaigns. This campaign adopted novel strategies including embedding instructions on law enforcement within criminal justice institutions, promulgating special rules on the crimes of evil forces in order to “strike” campaign targets early, and deploying intrusive investigation tactics that focused on the person and not the crime. Using democratic centralism as a liberal lens, this campaign showcases the struggle between the imperative of legality and the politics of a major campaign in China.
format Journal Article
author Yin, Bo
author_facet Yin, Bo
Mou, Yu
authorStr Yin, Bo
author_letter Yin, Bo
author2 Mou, Yu
author2Str Mou, Yu
title Centralized Law Enforcement in Contemporary China: The Campaign to "Sweep Away Black Societies and Eradicate Evil Forces"
publisher Cambridge University Press
publishDate 2023
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/38416/