'Custody and repatriation' (''shourong qiansong'') was an administrative procedure established in
1982 by which the police in the
People's Republic of China could detain non-residents if they did not have a
hukou and return them to their place of origin. These regulations were particularly disliked by members of the
floating population in
China.
In
2003,
Sun Zhigang died in police custody in
Guangzhou after being detained illegally with temporary resident permit under C&R regulations. The spreading of the news on the
Internet led to a public outcry against the practice. Senior Chinese legal scholars wrote to the
legislature, questioning the
constitutionality of this regulation. One particular problem with the regulations was that they were adopted as regulations by the
State Council and not as a law by the full
National People's Congress, and as a result it was argued that the law was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated Article 8 of the
Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China.
In June 2003,
Premier Wen Jiabao announced that C&R regulations were abolished and would be replaced by
Measures for Assisting Vagrants and Beggars with No Means of Support in Cities. Many commentators have argued that his action in abolishing the regulation was taken after it became clear that the NPCSC would almost certainly find the regulation to be unconstitutional.
See also
★
Police in China
External links
★
Chinese Protest Online: The Case of Sun Zhigang by the
Human Rights Watch