Ethnic Discrimination in Criminal Sentencing in China

Hou, Yue; Truex, Rory

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3481448

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Future research may want to investigate how the patterns traced in this study generalize to other political contexts. The findings of this study add to our understanding of political imprisonment in China and shed light on systematic biases in punishment outcomes (Hou and Truex, 2020; Lu and Miethe, 2002; Xu, 2020). While ample evidence demonstrates that ethnic Uyghurs are targeted in disproportionate numbers (Greitens et al, 2020; Zenz, 2019), this study suggests that ethnic Uyghurs are systematically discriminated even in comparison with other illegitimately detained political prisoners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Similarly, the Falun Gong demonstrated their mobilization capacity, for instance, in the “Zhongnanhai Incident” in April 1999, when more than 10,000 individuals held a mass prayer in direct proximity of the the central headquarters of the CCP (Cheung et al, 2018). Consequently, the discrimination effect applies in particular to the Chinese “problem minorities” (Hou and Truex, 2020: 2) that are perceived to undermine stability and to threaten China's territorial integrity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another related body of research sheds light on the length of criminal prison sentences in China (Hou and Truex, 2020; Lu and Miethe, 2002). Hou and Truex’s (2020) study demonstrates that defendants from ethnic minorities receive significantly longer prison sentences than Han defendants for similar drug crimes. However, this evidence pertains only to prisoners who have formally entered the criminal justice system.…”

Section: Political Imprisonment In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I model the determinants of detention lengths with individual political prisoners as the unit of analysis. Explanatory variables such as ethnicity or religion are non-randomly assigned and causally prior to effectively all other variables precluding causal identification (Hou and Truex, 2020; Sen and Wasow, 2016). I use a conditioning approach with the more modest aims of (a) identifying correlations with the duration of political imprisonment and (b) testing whether the correlations hold after accounting for a rich set of covariates.…”

Section: Multivariate Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, both prisoners detained for political actions and prisoners detained for non-political actions, such as practicing their religion, can be defined as political prisoners as long as their actions are protected by international human rights law. In contrast to previous research on sentencing patterns in China that focus on specific criminal charges (Hou and Truex, 2020; Lu and Miethe, 2002), this broader definition covers both formally charged and extra-judicially detained prisoners. This is important because a large number of Chinese political prisoners are extra-judicially detained in “reeducation through labor” ( laodong jiaoyang ) camps, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The duration of political imprisonment: Evidence from China

Steinert

2022

Conflict Management and Peace Science

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The Chinese regime is well known for the large-scale detention of dissidents and ethnic minorities. However, little is known about the fates of Chinese political prisoners. This study investigates determinants of the duration of political imprisonment in China. I argue that the duration of political imprisonment is shaped by (a) the perceived threat of individuals’ actions, and (b) their ethnic and religious identities. Drawing on the Chinese political prisoner database, I investigate predictors of the duration of political imprisonment with survival models. Since preceding actions shape detention times, I hand-code each prisoner's criminalized actions that led to incarceration. The evidence suggests that the Chinese regime conditions the duration of political imprisonment on prisoners’ demands and their collective action potential. The findings further demonstrate that ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans are imprisoned significantly longer than non-minority political prisoners. Additional analyses demonstrate that ethnic Uyghurs are also significantly more likely to die in prison.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Political Imprisonment In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multivariate Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The duration of political imprisonment: Evidence from China

Steinert

2022

Conflict Management and Peace Science

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Smuggling of drugs by body packing: Evidence from Chinese sentencing documents

Tang¹,

Cai²

2021

International Journal of Drug Policy

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International Attention and the Treatment of Political Prisoners

Gruffydd-Jones

2021

International Studies Quarterly

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Does international attention to political prisoners make them more likely to be released? The political science literature provides theoretical reasons to believe that widely publicizing a case may make regimes both more and less likely to free their prisoners, but to date there has been no systematic examination of this issue. An analysis of political prisoners in China from 1994 to 2017 shows that international publicity of a political prisoner's case will make regimes 70 percent more likely to release them early before sentencing, but has no effect once the prisoner has been sentenced—and may even be counterproductive. This “resistance” to international efforts appears to be more closely related with demonstrating the regime's strength to an international audience rather than to a domestic one. The study shows how fine-grained data on individuals can illuminate the domestic mechanisms behind why states comply with or resist transnational activism and human rights diplomacy. ¿La atención internacional a los presos políticos hace que su liberación sea más probable? En ciencias políticas, la literatura ofrece razones teóricas para creer que la amplia difusión de un caso puede hacer que los regímenes tengan más y menos probabilidades de liberar a sus presos, pero hasta la fecha, esa cuestión no se ha evaluado sistemáticamente. Un análisis del caso de los presos políticos en China entre 1994 y 2017 demuestra que la publicidad internacional hace que los regímenes sean un 70 percent más propensos a liberarlos antes de la sentencia, pero no tiene ningún efecto una vez que el preso ha sido condenado, e incluso puede ser contraproducente. Esta “resistencia” a los esfuerzos internacionales parece tener mayor relación con la demostración de la fuerza del régimen ante un público internacional que ante uno nacional. El estudio muestra de qué manera los datos detallados sobre las personas pueden echar luz sobre los mecanismos internos que explican las razones por las que los Estados cumplen con el activismo transnacional y la diplomacia de los derechos humanos o se resisten a hacerlo. L'attention internationale accordée aux prisonniers politiques les rend-t-elle davantage susceptibles d’être libérés? La littérature consacrée aux sciences politiques offre des raisons théoriques de croire qu'une grande sensibilisation du public à un cas spécifique peut rendre les régimes à la fois plus et moins susceptibles de libérer leurs prisonniers, mais jusqu'ici, ce sujet n'a pas encore fait l'objet d'un examen systématique. Une analyse portant sur les prisonniers politiques de Chine entre 1994 et 2017 montre que la sensibilisation internationale du public au cas des prisonniers politiques rend les régimes 70 percent plus susceptibles de les libérer rapidement avant leur condamnation, mais que cela n'a aucun effet une fois que le prisonnier a été condamné et que cela peut même être contreproductif. Cette « résistance » aux efforts internationaux semble davantage étroitement liée à la volonté du régime de montrer sa force au public international plutôt qu'au public national. Cette étude illustre la manière dont des données détaillées sur les individus peuvent apporter un éclairage sur les mécanismes nationaux qui expliquent pourquoi les États se conforment ou résistent à l'activisme transnational et à la diplomatie des droits de l'Homme.

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Ethnic Discrimination in Criminal Sentencing in China

Cited by 3 publications

References 42 publications

The duration of political imprisonment: Evidence from China

The duration of political imprisonment: Evidence from China

Smuggling of drugs by body packing: Evidence from Chinese sentencing documents

International Attention and the Treatment of Political Prisoners

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