Do You Feel Safe? – A Look at Violence in China

Brazil and China – two developing countries with large populations, rampant corruption, disparate wealth distribution and lethargic administrative structures – differ in one striking degree: their levels of security.

While Brazil may be more than the gruesome, drug-fueled violence of the favelas portrayed in movies today, it remains in the top 20 countries ranked by intentional homicide rate, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with 25.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants – a large figure in contrast to China's 1.2. Even India, a geographical neighbour with a population nearing that of China's, has more than double the homicide rate, and is struggling with high incidence of crimes against women, human trafficking and drug trade.

How is it then that China has managed to avoid falling prey to this affliction, and that we feel safe walking down its deserted city streets, alone at three in the morning – something we would not dare do in L.A., New York, Paris, and most other of our own metropolises?

While the question could be expatiated on in novel-length comparative essays, here are some tentative thoughts accounting for China's current standing as a safe country to live in, and why that might soon change:

1) Draconian punitive system

As the Communist Party rose to power, it implemented, amongst its numerous sets of reforms, strict laws to abide by. Between the years of 1949 to 1956, it destroyed the influence of criminal gangs, gambling and narcotics. Murder, rape, robbery, larceny and arson became major offenses.

As private gun ownership is prohibited in China, smuggling and distributing weapons can result in the death penalty. Similarly, dealing drugs, corruption, and even hosting pornographic websites are all offenses susceptible of being likewise punished.

Foreigners living in China, while perhaps more obvious targets for petty crimes such as theft, ultimately benefit from these measures. As part of a global effort to embellish the country's international image, the targeting of foreigners, for any type of crime, is generally met with more thorough investigations and harsher punishments than if the victims had been Chinese. Inversely, crimes committed by foreigners will typically lead to more lenient consequences – the most severe of which, until recently, was repatriation.

In tandem with the laws and their applications, the Chinese government has learned the lessons of 1989, and control is now absolute. The Great Firewall of China, with its internet police, blocks sites and tracks sprouting social movements. The fear of an uprising, following the recent wave of turmoil in the Middle East, were met with efficient intransigence, and subsequent to the call for public gatherings, one would find those locations unusually crowded with conspicuous looking street sweepers.

2) The percolating of Confucian thought

The influence of Confucian thought is paramount in understanding China. Though the members of Generation Z (those born between 1991 and 2000) certainly have broken the mold of traditional obeisance, the teachings of Confucius can still shed some light on security in the Chinese society.

Chinese people argue and quarrel (and watch others quarrel) as much as anyone else, possibly even more, as the numerous public disputes and arguments can attest. Yet, whereas such incidents can quickly escalate into fistfights back home, they rarely cross the threshold of words in China.

Confucius provided a code of conduct to the proper behavior of man – both in being ruled and in ruling himself. He established the principles for societal order, nationally and in the home, when he stated there would be government when君君，臣臣，父父，子子 (jun jun, chen chen, fu fu, zi zi – when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son). He instated the moral precepts for individual probity when he defined the superior man as being a man of virtue (君子–junzi).

By combining humaneness to the respect of law, Confucianism set the foundations for a system of respect and empathy – and it is no surprise today if China, as well as other Asian countries sharing Confucian histories, such as South Korea and Japan, also share low levels of criminality.

3) An eroding edifice

And yet, evidence suggests that along with the dimming of traditional cultural values, the thriving economy has already altered the moral landscape of Chinese society.

According to the Academy of Social Sciences, violent crime – including homicides, rapes and robberies – has soared in 2009, with prosecutors reporting a 10% increase in the number of cases over the past year; particularly in rural areas, where corruption and lawlessness abound.

The epitome of this surge in crime and simultaneous wearing away of moral responsibility is perhaps most evident in the repeated hit-and-run cases that have sprouted up around the country. In 2004, the government instated new laws, drastically raising compensation to victims of road accidents, while the penalty for killing someone on the road remained a mere three years in jail.

Since then, the most abhorrent behavior has been witnessed. On October 10th 2010 in Xi'an, a 21 year old student hit a woman cycling home. Conscious of the financial penalties that would ensue, he stepped out and stabbed the woman six times before driving off. On March 1st 2011 in Zhejiang Province, a 22 year old woman was thrown off her bicycle by a three-wheeled vehicle. The vehicle fled, leaving her sprawled on the road. Shortly after, a second vehicle mowed her over. A couple descended, inspected the body, and drove off. She was subsequently run over by three more vehicles, sending her body flying a few meters from where it had originally fallen. A company's surveillance camera then recorded 40 cars, motorcycles and trucks driving past – none offering any assistance.

Equally shocking has been the string of murders in schools across China in 2010. On March 23rd, a 41 year old man stepped into a Nanping elementary school and stabbed eight to death. On May 12th, a 48 year old man in Hanzhong killed seven students, two adults and injured 11 others using a cleaver. Over half a dozen of these tragedies took place within months. Sociologists purport the cause to be a failure on the government’s part to properly diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Some are even diagnosed as being mentally ill, a menace to themselves and to those around them, but released due to the lack of available resources.

The Chinese government hangs over its people, ruling with a watchful eye; wary not to let things slide out of control. With corruption and the incoherence of certain laws already twisting the fabric of a changing society, one may wonder whether they will offer help or simply drive on – because admitting guilt would be asking for too much.
 

Related links
The Ten Safest Cities in China
One Hand in Your Pocket – How to Stay Safe from Pickpockets in China
The Smallest Victims, The Largest Questions: China’s School Stabbings