Picking quarrels and provoking trouble explained

Picking quarrels and provoking trouble, also translated as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble or picking quarrels and making trouble, is a type of criminal offense in the People's Republic of China.

Law

The crime first appeared under Article 293 of the 1997 revision of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and has carried a maximum sentence of five years.^[1] The former offense of "hooliganism" was removed in the same revision of the criminal law.

Article 293 says:^[2]

Anyone who commits any of the following acts of provocation and disturbing social order shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance:

1. Beating others at will and the circumstances are egregious;
2. Chasing, intercepting, or insulting others in a serious manner;
3. Taking forcibly or arbitrarily damaging or occupying public or private property, if the circumstances are serious;
4. Making trouble in public places, causing serious disorder in public places.

Opinions

Zhu Zhengfu, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-chair of the All China Lawyers Association, said in 2022 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.^[3]

Critics have said the offense is ill-defined, arbitrarily applied and facilitates the abuse of state power.^{[1] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

List of notable people charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble

• Li Tingting (李婷婷), Wei Tingting (韦婷婷), Zheng Churan (郑楚然), Wu Rongrong (武嵘嵘), and Wang Man (王曼) (see Arrest of Chinese Feminists in 2015)^[8]
• Cao Shunli, a lawyer and human rights activist who was arrested at Beijing Airport in September 2013, and subsequently died in detention in March 2014^[9]
• Hao Jinsong^[10]
• Huang Xueqin (黄雪琴), a journalist who was prominent in China's Me Too movement and who wrote about the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests was arrested for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in October 2019.^[11]
• Liu Ping^[12]
• Pu Zhiqiang^[13]
• Qin Huohuo^[14]
• Tie Liu^[15]
• Yang Maodong, a Chinese human rights lawyer, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2015 after being charged with disturbing public order and "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".^[16]
• Zhang Zhan (张展), a citizen journalist who reported on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan was arrested in May 2020, and sentenced to four years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in December 2020.^{[17] [18]}
• Zhao Lianhai^[19]
• Sun Dawu, a billionaire sentenced to eighteen years in prison in July 2021^[20]
• Yu Wensheng^[21]
• Chen Jieren^[22]

See also

• List of Chinese dissidents
• Law of the People's Republic of China
• Public-order crime

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023-11-09 . Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble . 2023-11-10 . China Media Project . en-US.
2. Web site: 中华人民共和国刑法_中国人大网 . 2023-12-19 . www.npc.gov.cn.
3. News: 3 March 2022 . Stop making it a crime to 'pick quarrels' in China, says leading lawyer . en . . 3 March 2022.
4. Web site: Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its ninety-second session, 15–19 November 2021 Opinion No. 66/2021 concerning Zhang Haitao (China) . Working Group on Arbitrary Detention . United Nations.
5. Yuen . Samson . Friend or Foe? The Diminishing Space of China's Civil Society . China Perspectives . 2015 . 103 . 3 . 51-56 . French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
6. Nathan . Andrew . China's Challenge . Journal of Democracy . 2015 . 26 . 1 . 156-170 . Johns Hopkins University Press.
7. Luo . Jiajun . Authoritarian Legal (Ir)rationality:The Saga of 'Picking Quarrels' in China . Asian-Pacific Law & Policy . 2024 . 25 . 3 . 1-82 . University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
8. News: Chinese police release feminist activists . The Guardian . April 13, 2015.
9. Web site: Richardson . Sophie . Dispatches: The Death of a Defender in China . . 14 March 2014 . 16 March 2019 .
10. Web site: 2019-12-18 . Shānxī Wéiquán Lǜshī Hǎo Jìnsōng Zāo Jiēlián Chuánhuàn . live . 2023-07-22 . zh:山西维权律师郝劲松遭接连传唤 . zh-cn . Hao Jinsong, A Weiquan Lawyer in Shanxi, Received Consecutive Summonses from the Police . and . Jia'ao . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230722080835/https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/1-12182019112153.html . 2023-07-22 . dmy-all.
11. News: Hernández . Javier C. . 2019-10-24 . China Holds #MeToo Activist Who Wrote About Hong Kong Protests . en-US . . 2023-11-10 . 0362-4331.
12. News: China jails ant-corruption activists after high-profile trial. Rajogapalan. Megha. Reuters. 2014-06-19. 2014-07-20.
13. News: Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang gets suspended sentence. 22 December 2015. CNN. 22 December 2015.
14. News: Accused social media scandal monger Yang Xiuyu jailed for four years by Beijing court . South China Morning Post . November 18, 2014.
15. News: Buckley. Chris . Police Detain Tie Liu, Beijing Writer and Underground Publisher . The New York Times. September 15, 2014.
16. News: Buckley . Chris . 2021-02-02 . A Chinese Dissident Tried to Fly to His Sick Wife in the U.S. Then He Vanished. . en-US . . 2023-11-10 . 0362-4331.
17. News: 2020-12-28 . Zhang Zhan: China jails citizen journalist for Wuhan reports . en-GB . . 2023-11-10.
18. News: Davidson . Helen . 2020-12-28 . Wuhan Covid citizen journalist jailed for four years in China crackdown . en-GB . . 2023-11-10 . 0261-3077.
19. News: China court sentences melamine milk activist to jail . Reuters . November 10, 2010.
20. News: 2021-07-29 . Outspoken billionaire Sun Dawu jailed for 18 years in China . en-GB . . 2023-11-10.
21. News: Phillips . Tom . Outspoken Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng held by police . 16 January 2021 . The Guardian.
22. Web site: AFP. 3 May 2020. China journalist Chen Jieren jailed as free-speech clampdown intensifies. 3 June 2020. Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. en-GB.

    Web site: 1 May 2020. Chinese journalist gets 15 years in prison for attacking Communist Party. 3 June 2020. South China Morning Post. en.