Picking quarrels and provoking trouble
Simplified Chinese寻衅滋事
Traditional Chinese尋釁滋事

Picking quarrels and provoking trouble (Chinese: 寻衅滋事; pinyin: xúnxìn zīshì), also translated as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble or picking quarrels and making trouble, is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China.

Overview

It comes under article 293 of the 1997 revision of the People's Republic of China's Penal Code, and carries a maximum sentence of five years.[1] The former offense of "hooliganism" was removed in the same revision of the penal code.[2]

The crime is defined as undermining public order by creating a disturbance in a public place.[3] It is a type of criminal disorderly conduct.

As this is an ill-defined crime, it has frequently been used as an excuse to arrest human rights activists, civil rights activists, and lawyers in China, and hold them in detention pending more serious charges such as inciting subversion of state power.[3]

Text of the law

Article 293 of the 1997 Criminal Code of the People's Republic of China encompasses the following actions:

  1. Arbitrarily attacking people with particularly grave circumstances;
  2. Chasing, intercepting, or berating others with particularly grave circumstances;
  3. Forcibly taking, destroying, or occupying public or private property with serious circumstances; or
  4. Making a commotion and causing serious disorder in a public place.[1]

Discussion

Zhu Zhengfu, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-chair of the All China Lawyers Association, said that the law's "legal ambiguity breeds room for selective law enforcement, damages the public’s legal interests and undermines judicial credibility." Zhu argued in 2022 that the law should be eliminated.[2]

List of notable people charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble

Wikisource has several original texts related to court adjudications of picking quarrels and provoking trouble cases.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble". China Media Project. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Stop making it a crime to 'pick quarrels' in China, says leading lawyer". South China Morning Post. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Report submitted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention — Addendum: Visit to the People's Republic of China, 1997" (PDF). United Nations. 22 December 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  4. ↑ Richardson, Sophie (14 March 2014). "Dispatches: The Death of a Defender in China". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Hernández, Javier C. (24 October 2019). "China Holds #MeToo Activist Who Wrote About Hong Kong Protests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Buckley, Chris (2 February 2021). "A Chinese Dissident Tried to Fly to His Sick Wife in the U.S. Then He Vanished". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Zhang Zhan: China jails citizen journalist for Wuhan reports". BBC News. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Davidson, Helen (28 December 2020). "Wuhan Covid citizen journalist jailed for four years in China crackdown". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Outspoken billionaire Sun Dawu jailed for 18 years in China". BBC News. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
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