Spike in arrests leaves Chinese detention centers overflowing

Detention centers in China are overflowing amid a sharp rise in the number of arrests in the first half of this year, according to defense lawyers and recent government figures.

In the six months to June 30, prosecutors approved the formal arrest of 367,000 suspects, up 18.5% from the same period in 2023.

They also prosecuted 761,000 people nationwide, a rise of 6.8% year-on-year, according to an article on the official website of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate dated July 29.

The formal arrest figures don’t include people being held under criminal detention pending investigation by police, “residential surveillance at a designated location,” or administrative detention.

The spike in criminal proceedings has led to overcrowded detention centers, prompting the authorities to build new facilities to hold the newly arrested, criminal defense attorney Wang Rui said in video footage uploaded to social media.

“Detention centers are already overcrowded, with plans for expansion in a lot of places this year,” Wang said. “A few days ago, I met with a client who said there were more than 20 people in a cell that was designed to hold 12. Some people had to sleep on the floor.”

“It was hot weather, but not only was there no air-conditioning; they didn’t even have an electric fan,” he said. 

A second lawyer from the central province of Henan who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals confirmed Wang’s claim. “Usually you would have 12 or 14 people in a cell, but now that number has risen to more than 20,” he said. 

According to January figures from the Ministry of Public Security, China has more than 2,300 detention centers, which are generally used to house people awaiting investigation, trial or appeal, while prisons are used to house those serving out their time.

Minor rule-breaking

Lawyers said that the likely reason for the sudden rise in the number of arrests was a nationwide clampdown on minor rule-breaking like irregularities in the accounts of small business owners, as well as on ordinary people lodging formal complaints about official wrongdoing.

“Some people are being intercepted for petitioning, and may be charged with obstructing a public official in the performance of their duties, or picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” Sun said. “They are finding reasons to arrest people even if no crime has been committed — that really is the situation right now.”

Another lawyer, Wang Kui, had a similar story, saying officials seem to have zero tolerance for any kind of rule-breaking these days.

“In the past, they would turn a blind eye to a lot of stuff, but that’s longer possible now,” he said in a video uploaded to his social media account. “For example, if you run a small business and don’t complete the right paperwork, you could be accused of illegal business operations.”

“If you have poor turnover and default on some payments, you could be charged with fraud or breach of contract,” Wang Kui said. “It’s becoming clearer and clearer that heavy sentences are being handed down for minor crimes.”

The current economic downturn is stepping up pressure on people who are heavily indebted due to their mortgages, car loans, kids’ education or who have black or gray-market income streams, the lawyers said.

Pyramid schemes, fraud and money laundering are also rampant, due to falling corporate revenues, they said.

Salaries down

Meanwhile, cash-strapped local governments are slashing public servants’ salaries and imposing fees and fines in every area of people’s lives, including new highway tolls and roadside parking fees on quiet residential streets.

Guo Min, a former deputy police station chief at the Zhuzhou city police department in the central province of Hunan, said the authorities have been steadily building new detention centers and prisons in his home province for a few years now.

“The expansion of detention centers, jails and prisons began several years ago, probably under the guidance of the central government,” Guo told RFA Mandarin. “Take Zhuzhou for example. They started building jails and detention centers several years ago, and they have been coming into use over the past couple of years.”

“It appears that the government has long anticipated the current situation and made arrangements accordingly,” he said.

According to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate article, law enforcement agencies are currently targeting “Taiwan independence diehards” accused of “splitting the country and inciting others to secession,” although no figures were supplied. 

China warned earlier this year that nationals of democratic Taiwan could be tried in absentia and even sentenced to death for supporting formal independence for the country, but Taipei said Beijing has no jurisdiction over acts and speech on its territory.

Meanwhile, the authorities are also vowing to get tough on organized crime, prosecuting 28,000 people for gang-related offenses in the first half of the year, and on drugs-related offenses, which yielded 26,000 prosecutions over the same period, the article said.

It said “more than 85% of criminal suspects confessed and pleaded guilty during the prosecution stage.”