China’s Notorious City Management Officers in Legal Limbo Despite Expanding Role

Zhou Qijun, Sun Liangzi and Li Rongde
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has been charged with regulating the force that earlier was under the sole purview of local governments

Chengguan, Widely Despised Officers in China, Find Refuge and a Kind Ear

Karoline Kan
New York Times
China’s first Psychological Crisis Center for Chengguan opened in Nanjing this week

It’s the Law: Chengguan in Guangzhou Now Have to be Nice

Barry van Wyk
Danwei
The new regulations state clearly that chengguan may not use profane or threatening language while enforcing their duties, may not damage private property, and may not use any form of violence or intimidation. 

Media

10.11.13

How Social Media Complicates the Role of China’s Rights Lawyers

Xia Junfeng was once unknown, but his 2009 arrest for the murder of security officers—who, he alleged, had savagely beaten him—made him a symbolic figure in a national debate about human rights and reform in China. Yet many wonder whether this...

Her Husband’s Execution, Then a Bag of Ashes

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
In the four years since her husband was arrested, Ms. Zhang, 39, has been transformed from a shy, self-described politically naïve peasant into an eloquent voice for the downtrodden. 

Media

09.26.13

Execution or Murder? Chinese Look for Justice in Street Vendor’s Death

This morning, a Chinese street vendor named Xia Junfeng was executed. Xia had been found guilty of murdering two urban enforcers, known colloquially as chengguan, in 2009. Xia’s lawyers argued he acted in self-defense, presenting six eyewitness...

Why Do Chinese Netizens Think Beijing’s Airport Bomber Is A Hero?

Alia
Offbeat China
Ji Zhongxing, who suffered police brutality when his illegal motorcycle taxi service was shut down, detonated a bomb in the Beijing International Airport, but the act seemed to be more of a demonstration than an act of violence. 

Media

06.25.13

China’s “Urban Enforcers” Caught in a Vicious Cycle

Last week, another anecdote about chengguan— China’s urban enforcers whose main tasks include enforcing urban beautification ordinances and cracking down on unlicensed street vendors— caught the public’s attention. On June 15, a web user called @岔巴子...