Why is Human Trafficking Difficult for China’s Public Security Authorities to Address as a Priority?

• In Event: Dynamics of Human Trafficking Across the Globe

Abstract

The central purpose of this article is to discuss why human trafficking is difficult for China’s public security authorities to address as a priority by illustrating the process and politics of China’s human trafficking case handling system. Since the 1990s, public security organs have launched a number of large-scale special operations to combat the trafficking crime. This centralized, top-to-bottom campaign model of combating governance helps to quickly focus social resources on crime in a stormy manner but ignores the long-term effect. After 2008, the Communist Party of China (CCP) gradually transformed its strategy of cracking down on human trafficking into building mechanisms with long-term effects. In this new era of confronting trafficking, why is human trafficking challenge to tackle as a priority by China’s public security authorities? This article uses a qualitative analysis of interviews with 42 police officers, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers to discuss the process and political logic behind China’s public security authorities’ handling of human trafficking cases. While there is a rich literature on human trafficking, exploration of the political logic of the public security organs’ handling of human trafficking in China is scarce. This article aims to make a contribution to this crucial topic.

Author

• Shuqin Mei, The Chinese University of Hong Kong