Anqi Shen

The changing role of china in the global illegal cigarette trade

This study explores the history of the illegal production, distribution, and smuggling of cigarettes in mainland China. Data were obtained from a content analysis of 931 media reports retrieved from LexisNexis for the time period 1975 until 2010, and from other open sources. The illegal cigarette trade first emerged in the form of violations of state tobacco monopoly regulations. In the course of the restructuring of the legal tobacco sector, which occurred under external political pressure to open the Chinese market to foreign competition, an illegal cigarette industry emerged which at first primarily produced fake Chinese brand cigarettes for the domestic black market. At the same time, China became a destination country for smuggled genuine Western brand cigarettes. It was only after effective crackdowns against cigarette smuggling and domestic distribution channels in the late 1990s that the Chinese illegal cigarette industry shifted to exporting large numbers of counterfeit Western brand cigarettes to black markets abroad. China’s current role as a leading supplier of counterfeit cigarettes is a result of the contradictions of the economic reform process and of external licit and illicit forces that worked toward opening up the Chinese tobacco sector to the outside world.

Questioning suspected offenders: The investigative interviewing process in the People’s Republic of China

Criminal confessions following the questioning of suspects by police and prosecuting investigators is a problem in the PRC in that some of these admissions of guilt result from the application of illegal methods of interviewing. The interview process is regulated by legislation and policy documents that in practice are frequently ignored; illegal pressures generate false confessions which have resulted in high profile cases of injustice. This article describes one such case. The article outlines the laws and regulations covering the interview of criminal suspects; explains why the regulations and law are often flouted; and considers proposals to promote the due process approach that exists primarily in documents at the moment.

Restorative Justice Or What?: Restorative Justice in the Chinese Youth Justice System

This article aims to examine restorative justice (RJ) practices in China’s youth justice system, seeking to make contributions to the global effort of operationalising the notion. It begins with an outline of the Chinese youth justice system. Following a brief literature review on RJ movements in China, it moves on to introduce the current programmes in the country’s youth justice practices, including those similar to the Western notion of RJ and those recognised as RJ only in China, and the legal mechanisms facilitating the development of restorative justice. It concludes that China is in its own way translating the critical values of RJ theory into its youth justice system, leaning towards a better one for juveniles. The development of restorative justice and criminal justice as a whole in China is a work in progress. Local variations and timeframe for development should be permissible in its legal reform.

The Role of the Study–Work School: A Chinese Case Study on Early Intervention and Child-Centred Juvenile Justice

Despite governmental and cultural differences, many jurisdictions are experiencing common tensions between care and control within juvenile justice. The study–work school is an early intervention measure in China aiming at child protection and crime prevention. Relying on empirical data, this article seeks to explore some characteristics of the study–work school, the role it plays and the challenges facing it. It is hoped that the findings here will inform local policy and practice, make contributions to the increasing international body of literature on comparative juvenile justice studies and help a better understanding of the implementation of global policy in local settings.

Motivations of women who organized others for prostitution: Evidence from a female prison in China:

This article discusses women’s involvement in sex work management – an offence defined under section 358 of the 1997 Chinese Criminal Law and one of the re-emerged areas of illegality following the economic reforms since 1978. It first provides the historical context, legislative background and relevant sections of the Chinese vice laws so as to help make sense of the data obtained. Then it discusses the methodological issues before presenting the empirical findings to explore the socio-demographic profile of the incarcerated female sex work organizers who participated in this study and their motivations for organizing others for prostitution. Based on empirical data, this article explores the impact of social conditions on female offenders in China’s reform era and also the effects of the anti-prostitution policy in the country. Moreover, through a Chinese case study, it makes contributions to broader scholarship on the sex trade regulation. It concludes with a couple of implications for policy and practice.

Women in Criminal Market Activities: Findings from a Study in China

This chapter provides the findings from a Chinese study on females’ role in criminal entrepreneurial activities in the post-1978 reform era. It relies primarily on the empirical data drawn from a recent qualitative study on women and crime in China. The shows that women, commonly motivated by economic incentives, play a variety of roles in the criminal markets in China the country: from criminal leaders, business partners, supporters, occasional entrepreneurs to investors. Apart from taking a gender-sensitive approach, we have also considered social class, the individuals’ personal conditions, overall social changes and their interplay with women’s involvement in criminal markets.