Picking quarrels and provoking trouble

Picking quarrels and provoking trouble (Chinese: 寻衅滋事罪; pinyin: xúnxìn zīshì zuì), also translated as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble or picking quarrels and making trouble, is a criminal offense in the People's Republic of China.

Picking quarrels and provoking trouble
Simplified Chinese	寻衅滋事罪
Traditional Chinese	尋釁滋事罪
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xúnxìn zīshì

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.^[2]

Article 293 says:^[3]

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.^[2]

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

• Breach of the peace
• Public nuisance
• Law of the People's Republic of China
• Public-order crime