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Examining the crimes that have recently been of the greatest concern in China, the authors assess the imbalance between public order and human rights in the way the Chinese legal system deals with crime. The issue of crime is of particular importance, both because current social upheaval in China has greatly contributed to the increase of new crimes, and because there is increasing international interest in Chinese law following the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization. This is an in-depth study on contemporary Chinese law reform, presenting a fascinating portrait of a society and legal system grappling with vast social change.
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New Crime in China Since the collapse of communism throughout much of the world and the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, China has come under increasing pressure to reform its legal system and increase human rights protections. Yet the Chinese government’s recent handling of issues such as crime within families, the Falungong sect, and the development of the internet demonstrates that despite significant criminal justice reform in 1996–7, the world’s most populous country is encountering serious difficulties in incorporating the rule of law into its domestic policies. This book examines the crimes which have recently been of the greatest concern in China and assesses the imbalance between public order and human rights in the way the Chinese legal system deals with them. These new crimes include the formation of cults, the intentional spread of infectious disease, domestic violence, sexual harassment, internet fraud and dissent, website pornography, terrorism and organized crime in the sex and drugs trades and in human trafficking. The issue of crime is of particular importance both because current social upheaval in China contributes a great deal to the increase of new crimes and because there is increasing international interest in Chinese law following the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization. A fascinating portrait of a society and legal system grappling with vast social change, New Crime in China will be of interest to scholars studying China and human rights as well as to legal experts with an interest in the developing countries of Asia. Ronald C. Keith is a professor at the Griffith Business School, Griffith University. Zhiqiu Lin is a professor at Carleton University. Their publications include the jointly written Law and Justice in China’s New Marketplace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001). Routledge Contemporary China Series 1 Nationalism, Democracy and National Integration in China Leong Liew and Wang Shaoguang 2 Hong Kong’s Tortuous Democratization A comparative analysis Ming Sing 3 China’s Business Reforms Institutional challenges in a globalised economy Edited by Russell Smyth and Cherrie Zhu 4 Challenges for China’s Development An enterprise perspective Edited by David H. Brown and Alasdair MacBean 5 New Crime in China Public order and human rights Ronald C. Keith and Zhiqiu Lin 6 Non-Governmental Organizations in Contemporary China Paving the way to civil society? Qiusha Ma 7 Globalization and the Chinese City Fulong Wu 8 The Politics of China’s Accession to the World Trade Organization The dragon goes global Hui Feng 9 Narrating China Jia Pingwa and his fictional world Yiyan Wang 10 Sex, Science and Morality in China Joanna McMillan New Crime in China Public order and human rights Ronald C. Keith and Zhiqiu Lin First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2006 Ronald C. Keith and Zhiqiu Lin This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of thi