China’s Supreme People’s Court recently issued an exhaustive interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law, specifying that suspects and defendants who are outside the country and who seriously endanger national security, etc., can be sentenced in absentia in accordance with the law and have their illegal proceeds and other property involved in the case disposed of. This move is seen by observers as intimidating and deterring dissidents outside the country.
The government wants the dual effect of deterrence and punishment
China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China” on February 4, which stipulates that if the suspect or defendant of a crime that seriously endangers national security is outside the country, the trial in absentia procedure can be applied to deliver a verdict in accordance with the law and dispose of the illegal proceeds and other property involved in the case.
“Trial in absentia”, or “judgment in absentia”, refers to the failure of the parties to attend the court trial. In common law systems, a trial in absentia implies that the defendant’s right to be present at the trial of a crime has been violated.
“Crimes against national security include “organizing, planning, or committing secession, undermining national unity, inciting secession, or undermining national unity,” “organizing, planning, or committing subversion of state power, overthrowing the socialist system The crimes include “organizing, planning and committing secession, undermining national unity, inciting secession and undermining national unity”, “organizing, planning and committing subversion of state power and overthrowing the socialist system, and inciting subversion of state power and overthrowing the socialist system by means of rumors, slander or other means.
At a Feb. 4 press conference, Supreme Court Vice President Li Shaoping explained that “corrupt elements and other criminals will not be allowed to go unpunished and evade punishment” and that “the new era of anti-corruption struggle and the new era of the Supreme Court will not be allowed to be overlooked. “To provide strong judicial guarantees for the fight against corruption and international efforts to track down fugitives in the new era.”
Beijing lawyer Zhang Zhiyong was quoted by Hong Kong Wen Wei Po as saying that the judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme Court means that China’s in absentia trial procedures are complete and will provide a legal basis and institutional guarantee for safeguarding national security and recovering stolen goods overseas, with a dual effect of deterrence and punishment.
The Interpretation of the New Criminal Procedure Law of the Supreme Court of China has 27 chapters and 655 articles, which is the largest number of judicial interpretation ever, and will come into effect from March 1, 2021.
Another example of long-arm jurisdiction overseas
Teng Biao, an adjunct professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a doctor of law at Peking University, said that the CCP’s interpretation of “in absentia proceedings” and “confiscation proceedings” is another example of extending its black hand overseas to non-Chinese citizens.
There are precedents for the CCP extending its legal jurisdiction overseas. For example, Article 38 of Hong Kong’s national security law, which came into force on July 1 last year, provides that “this law shall apply to persons outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who do not have the status of permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and who commit the crimes provided for in this law against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”
Teng Biao said that Article 38 means that no matter what nationality you have or what country you live in, if you are considered by the Chinese government to be advocating for Hong Kong’s independence or criticizing the Chinese government, you will be considered to be endangering China’s national security and be punished in accordance with the Hong Kong national security law.
However, Chen Jiangang, a former Chinese human rights lawyer living in exile in the United States, said in an interview with Voice of America that there is no need to take the Chinese Communist Party‘s laws seriously. The Chinese Communist Party has always ignored the law, ignored the law, and ignored the law before there was such a law.
Chen pointed out that the various practices of persecution, such as the implication of Family members of political prisoners and the massive looting of their property, were not authorized by law and were not prescribed by law. Therefore, he believes that the CCP’s interpretation of the Criminal Law’s in absentia trial and confiscation of property for suspects of crimes that seriously endanger national security is intended to deter by the provisions of the law.
It is a deterrent, a threat to these political dissidents who are hostile to the CCP,” he said. However, those who suffer persecution and want to flee China with and without this provision still exist.”
Dissidents Deprived of Economic Income Sources
Although this is the first Time that China’s Supreme Court has provided such a detailed explanation for the in absentia trial and confiscation of property of those suspected of endangering state security, as Chen points out, the CCP is already strangling the financial resources of those not yet charged with crimes, which the CCP calls “case-related property.
On Aug. 17 last year, Cai Xia, a former professor at the CCP Party School, was expelled from the Central Party School and had her retirement benefits revoked for previously speaking out against Xi Jinping and the CCP.
Cai Xia tweeted on Sept. 7 last year that her family went to the bank to withdraw money on her behalf and was told that “the account was closed in execution. Cai Xia said, August 17 was expelled from the party and was canceled pension benefits, August 20, directly closed her bank account, “not only do I still have no pension, but also my previous deposits can not be withdrawn. I thought they were going to put me in a difficult situation of poverty, hunger and sickness, but now I understand that they want to put me in a desperate situation!”
Cai Xia retired in 2012 and came to live in the United States in 2019.
Chen Jiangang, a former Chinese human rights lawyer, said the Chinese Communist authorities know that if they cannot stifle the voices of dissidents through political means, using economic means to deprive them of their livelihoods can have the effect of making an example of them.
He said, “Using economic means to exert pressure on political dissidents is a tactic that the CCP has always used, and the tactic that the CCP has historically, over the decades, adopted is a ‘no Food unless you obey,’ approach.”
Chen said the CCP has not only targeted dissidents themselves, but has also linked their families to their families, cut off their sources of economic income, and seized their property. The results of such tactics by the CCP are extremely tragic, he said. This is one of the main reasons why the vast majority of intellectuals are afraid to speak up and speak the truth.
Analysis: Increasing the bullying of overseas dissidents
Teng Biao, an adjunct professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a doctor of law at Peking University, told Voice of America that the Chinese Supreme Court’s interpretation of the criminal law is clearly intended to further deter overseas human rights defenders and dissidents by means of criminal law and confiscation of property, with very real implications.
He said, “Because almost all of these dissidents outside of China, they have more or less connections in China, especially the newly released ones, they have property or immediate family members in China, which can cause direct damage to them, and it is possible to convict them in absentia, and then confiscate their property and fine them. “
Professor Teng Biao said there are many more examples like Cai Xia, a former professor at the Central Party School who had his retirement benefits revoked, and some of whom have had their bank accounts frozen in the country.
Teng Biao expects that after this interpretation of the criminal law by China’s Supreme Court, the authorities will intensify their efforts to speed up steps to punish those the Communist Party considers suspects of endangering its national security. He said that under the CCP’s obscene influence, some people overseas have had to censor themselves in terms of their words and actions for fear of the safety of their property and relatives at Home.
The CCP has gone to great lengths to deal with its political enemies, using not only legal means but also a wide range of non-legal means, including disappearances, torture, etc., to deal with what they see as political enemies,” he said. The CCP’s confiscation of the property and money of what they see as their political enemies is not the most important purpose, it is only a means to an end, the most important purpose is to maximize their intimidation and terror against dissidents politically.”
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