Strike Hard Against Crime Campaign (1983)

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History of the People's Republic of China
1949–1976: Mao era Revolution Land Reform Movement Proclamation Korean War Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns First five-year plan Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Bandung Conference Sufan movement Hundred Flowers Campaign Anti-Rightist Campaign Canton Fair Great Leap Forward Great Chinese Famine Two Bombs, One Satellite Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Third Front Cultural Revolution UN representation Richard Nixon visit
1976–1989: Deng era Gang of Four Boluan Fanzheng 1978 Truth Criterion Controversy New Enlightenment Reforms and Opening Up Special economic zones China–United States relations Three Communiqués Four Modernizations Sino-Vietnamese War Beijing Spring Strike Hard Against Crime Campaign Sino-British Joint Declaration Campaign against spiritual pollution Bourgeois liberalization Opposition 863 Program 1986 Chinese student demonstrations Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
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The 1983 "Strike Hard" Anti-crime Campaign (Chinese: 严厉打击刑事犯罪活动; pinyin: Yánlì dǎjí xíngshì fànzuì huódòng), or "Stern Blow" Anti-crime Campaign of 1983, was a massive anti-crime campaign initiated by Deng Xiaoping beginning in September 1983, then paramount leader of China.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The campaign lasted for three years and five months, and was launched largely as a result of the nationwide worsening public safety post Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Zedong from 1966 to 1976 during which rapes, murders, robberies, and arson occurred en-masse and even cannibalism took place in some parts of China due to the breakdown of social order and the public security system during that time.^[4][6][7][8]

In 1979, urban unemployed workers within the People's Republic of China had reached 20 million, the highest number of unemployed since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In Beijing alone, unemployment amounted to some 400,000, accounting for 8.6% of the city's total population. On average one person was unemployed for every 2.7 urban residents. The maximum number of unemployed persons in Tianjin was 380,000, accounting for 11.7% of the city's total population. The unemployed also included the sent-down youth forced to retreat into the mountains and the countryside during the cultural revolution, accounting for the newly increased urban idle population.

In December 1979, Li Xiannian stated at the National Work Conference initiated the Down to the Countryside Movement. In 1980, the central government officially ended the 25-year policy and as a result large numbers of educated youths returned to the city, becoming unemployed in the process, which aggravated the deterioration of public safety within cities.  At that time, according to national survey, there were 9 categories of people requesting to return to cities and reinstatement. In addition to the educated youth who went to the countryside and the mountains, workers who were collectivized and returned to their hometowns in the early 1960s also asked to return to work. Technical secondary school graduates also required uniform distribution from the state in terms of jobs. As a result, cities in China accumulated large numbers of the unemployed, while at the same time dealing with a large influx of returnees and former Red Guards from the Down to the Countryside Movement, further deteriorating the public security situation.

In May 1981, the central government held a public security symposium in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, and formally adopted the "comprehensive governance" and the "rule of heavier and faster in accordance with the law" policy.

During the "three battles" of the "Strike Hard" campaign, some 197,000 criminal groups were cracked down, 1.772 million people were arrested and 1.747 million people were prosecuted with an estimated 30,000 sentenced to death.^[1][7][8][9] Although visible improvements in public safety followed, controversies arose as to whether some of the legal punishments were too harsh and whether the legal processes of many cases were complete and sufficiently rigorous.^{[2][3][7][8][9]}