Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil
| Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil | |||||||
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 A propaganda sign for cracking down on gangsters and eliminating evil in a shopping mall in Wuxi, Jiangsu | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 扫黑除恶专项斗争 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 掃黑除惡專案鬥爭 | ||||||
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The Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was a campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to crack down on organized crime. The campaign was launched on 24 January 2018, with a target period of three years.
History
[edit]The campaign was announced on 24 January 2018 jointly by the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council in the "Notice Regarding the Launch of the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil",[1] which also called for "opposing corruption and graft at the grassroots level". Following the notice, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice issued regulations to assist the efforts, allowing voluntary confessions prior to 1 March in order to receive lighter punishments as well as promising lighter punishments to those who assist in investigating others. By the end of 2018, over twenty departments established their own guidance for the crackdown.[2]
In May 2018, the National Leading Group for the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil (全国扫黑除恶专项斗争领导小组组长) was established, led by Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC) Secretary Guo Shengkun, with deputies including Minister Public Security Zhao Kezhi, Supreme People's Court President Zhou Qiang, Procurator-General Zhang Jun, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) Deputy Secretary Li Shulei, Organization Department Deputy Head Qi Yu and CPLC Secretary-General Chen Yixin. The Office of the National Leading Group was headed by Chen Yixin, assisted by CPLC deputy secretaries-general Chen Xunqiu, Bai Shaokang and Lei Dongsheng, Supreme People's Court Vice President Jiang Wei, Deputy Procurator-General Chen Guoqing and Vice Minister of Public Security Li Wei.[2]
In June 2018, the Leading Group announced plans to form ten supervision teams, which totaled in 335 people, who rotated through the provinces in three rounds between July 2018 and July 2019. This work plan forecasted that the first year would be centered on containment and combat, the second year on digging into the roots of the problem, and the third year on long-term management. The first round of the campaign included Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Fujian, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, and Sichuan. A report on the first round by the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission's Legal Daily reported that supervision teams visited 823 villages in 627 townships and 390 counties in 99 cities and spoke directly with 5,764 CCP members, which the paper said uncovered over 6,000 important tips, eliminated 96 criminal organizations, and investigated 1,791 corruption and protection umbrella cases. It also said citizens submitted over 300,000 reports (receiving over CN¥15 million in reward money), and an alleged 180,000 suspects turned themselves in.[2]
In August 2018, Chen Yixin presided over the second meeting of the Leading Group, where he said the campaign would enter a more difficult period and called for strengthening cooperation between the CCDI and legal organizations. In October 2018, a National Conference to Promote the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was held in Wuhan, which focused on "protection umbrellas", meaning officials who provide cover for organized crime. The media coverage during this time focused on Shanxi gang leader Chen Hongzhi, who was protected by the village head; the seized assets of the group totaled CN¥7.8 billion. Training session were held in March 2019, and a second round of inspections began in April, targeting Tianjin, Jilin, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xinjiang (including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps). In May and June 2019, the third round of inspections began, covering Beijing, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Qinghai, and Gansu, later followed by Tibet and Ningxia. By this time, inspection efforts covered all of China's province-level divisions.[2]
After each round of supervision in a province-level division, a "look back" review lasting approximately ten days have been held, where the supervision group examined the list of problems discovered during the first visit and the proposed suggestions to solve those problems. The reports typically included at least one anecdote about the negative impact organized crime. The review of the first round of supervision was completed in spring 2019, and the second and third rounds of review were completed over the course of the summer and fall of 2019. In October 2019, the second National Conference to Promote the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was held in Xi'an.[3]
In April 2020, the National Leading Group launched the "Six Clearances" campaign.[4] On 9 April 2020, the Ministry of Public Security announced the "Reducing to Zero" operation to pursue fugitives; by May 2020, authorities stated that 934 of 1,481 domestic fugitives had been apprehended, as well as 33 who had fled overseas.[2] On 29 March 2021, the National Summary and Commendation Conference on the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was held in Beijing, where CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping gave rewards to representatives.[5] Due to problems exposed in the Special Campaign, the CCP announced the Education and Rectification of the Political and Legal Teams campaign in July 2020.[2][6] In December 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the Anti–Organized Crime Law, which took effect on 1 May 2022.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bandurski, David (2018-01-27). "Rooting out gangs, and talk of gangs". China Media Project. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ a b c d e f Greitens, Sheena Chestnut (2020-09-02). "The Saohei Campaign, Protection Umbrellas, and China's Changing Political-Legal Apparatus". China Leadership. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "扫黑除恶专项斗争进入爬坡攻坚期" [The special campaign to eliminate gangsters and evil forces has entered a critical period of climbing]. Legal Daily. 13 October 2019. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "扫黑除恶专项斗争收官之年，各地交出怎样的"答卷"？" [In the final year of the special campaign to crack down on gangsters and eliminate evil, what kind of "answers" have been handed in by various regions?]. Xinhua News Agency. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "习近平会见扫黑除恶表彰大会代表" [Xi Jinping meets with delegates of the commendation conference for cracking down on gangsters and eliminating evil]. Lianhe Zaobao. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "把扫黑除恶专项斗争不断推向深入" [Continue to deepen the special campaign against organized crime and evil]. Legal Daily. 2019-10-13. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
- ^ Wei, Changhao; Hu, Taige (2022-12-14). ""Sweep Away Darkness, Eliminate Evil": A Belated Overview of China's First Organized Crime Law". NPC Observer. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
