Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil
{{Short description|Chinese Communist Party campaign}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| s = 扫黑除恶专项斗争
| t = 掃黑除惡專案鬥爭
| p = Sǎohēi Chúè Zhuānxiàng Dòuzhēng
| mi =
| l =
| pic = 商城里面的扫黑除恶宣传.jpg
| piccap = A propaganda sign for cracking down on gangsters and eliminating evil in a shopping mall in Wuxi, Jiangsu
| order = st
}}The Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was a campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to crack down on organized crime. The campaign was launched on 24 January 2018, with a target period of three years.
History
The campaign was announced on 24 January 2018 jointly by the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council in the "Notice Regarding the Launch of the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil",{{Cite web |last=Bandurski |first=David |date=2018-01-27 |title=Rooting out gangs, and talk of gangs |url=https://chinamediaproject.org/2018/01/28/rooting-out-gangs-and-talk-of-gangs/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=China Media Project |language=en-US}} which also called for "opposing corruption and graft at the grassroots level".{{Cite web |last=Greitens |first=Sheena Chestnut |date=2020-09-02 |title=The Saohei Campaign, Protection Umbrellas, and China's Changing Political-Legal Apparatus |url=https://www.prcleader.org/post/the-saohei-campaign-protection-umbrellas-and-china-s-changing-political-legal-apparatus |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=China Leadership |language=en}} The National Leading Small Group for the campaign was formed in May 2018. It's members included:
File:201908 Gangster-Busting Slogan in Xide County.jpg, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture]]
In April 2020, the National Leading Group launched the "Six Clearances" campaign.{{Cite news |date=25 September 2020 |title=扫黑除恶专项斗争收官之年，各地交出怎样的"答卷"？ |trans-title=In the final year of the special campaign to crack down on gangsters and eliminate evil, what kind of "answers" have been handed in by various regions? |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/legal/2020-09/25/c_1210816354.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927022150/http://www.xinhuanet.com/legal/2020-09/25/c_1210816354.htm |archive-date=27 September 2020 |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=Xinhua News Agency}} On 29 March 2021, the National Summary and Commendation Conference on the Special Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crime and Eliminate Evil was held in Beijing, where CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping gave rewards to representatives.{{Cite news |date=29 March 2021 |title=习近平会见扫黑除恶表彰大会代表 |trans-title=Xi Jinping meets with delegates of the commendation conference for cracking down on gangsters and eliminating evil |url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20210329-1135007 |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=Lianhe Zaobao}} Due to problems exposed in the Special Campaign, the CCP announced the Education and Rectification of the Political and Legal Teams campaign in July 2020.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-13 |title=把扫黑除恶专项斗争不断推向深入 |trans-title=Continue to deepen the special campaign against organized crime and evil |url=http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/zt/content/2019-10/13/content_8015733.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930193710/http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/zt/content/2019-10/13/content_8015733.htm |archive-date=2020-09-30 |accessdate=2020-10-27 |website=Legal Daily |publisher=}} In December 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the Anti–Organized Crime Law, which took effect on 1 May 2022.{{Cite web |last1=Wei |first1=Changhao |last2=Hu |first2=Taige |date=2022-12-14 |title="Sweep Away Darkness, Eliminate Evil": A Belated Overview of China's First Organized Crime Law |url=https://npcobserver.com/2022/12/sweep-away-darkness-eliminate-evil-a-belated-overview-of-chinas-first-organized-crime-law/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=NPC Observer |language=en-US}}
== Details ==
The campaign differed from previous efforts to fight organized crime by paying special attention to ways organized crime had internal influence in law enforcement organizations. Organized crime was important to General Office of the CCP because in addition for hurting personal finances it erodes the legitimacy and authority of the Chinese Communist Party when it gains internal access to the state organs. In particular the campaign fought protection umbrellas {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|保护伞}} in which officials made it more difficult to prosecute organized crime via internal influences like intentionally misclassifying cases or leaking investigative details. The campaign came with new reporting systems, rewards, and legal protections for whistleblowers. The government reported that by July 2019, 300,000 citizens' reports were filed and 15 million ren men bi was paid to whistleblowers. It also reported that 180,000 turned themselves in during the same time period. In March 2019, a work reported stated 10,361 persons were prosecuted for organized criminal activity, 50,827 persons were prosecuted for other criminal activity, and 350 persons were prosecuted for providing protection umbrellas. In May 2020 an additional work report stated 30,547 additional prosecutions for organized crime, 67,689 prosecutions for other criminal activity, and 1,385 persons prosecuted for providing protection umbrellas. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) also investigated party members.
Some foreign observers critiqued the quick speed of the campaign and opaque targeting policies. The CCDI also advised making stricter targeting policies in 2019.
Propaganda
In propaganda, the campaign was presented as both against organized crime and against criminals' important links to corrupt officials. The campaign used the term {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|扫}} or sweep rather than {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|打}} or strike. This may reflect a shifting priority from the Chinese government from going after the most overt forms of criminal activity to better concealed organized crime. In October 2018, Chen Hongzhi, an alleged Shanxi gangster was made an into an example on state media. State media reported that the leader of the local government {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|陈子福}}, a local party member {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|张香平}}, and police chief {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|高建斌}} had worked together to prevent his prosecution. After arrest, state media reported that 7.8 billion ren men bi was recovered.{{cite web |title="扫"出清风正气 "扫"出朗朗乾坤 |url=http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/zt/content/2018-12/27/content_7731045.htm |website=http://www.legaldaily.com.cn |publisher=Legal Daily |access-date=17 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626150053/http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/zt/content/2018-12/27/content_7731045.htm |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |date=2018-12-27}} Reporting highlighted cases where local investigations were remanded by the Central Supervision Group to broaden the scope of investigation into additional officials and uncover more corruption and seize more assets.