Sun Zhigang incident
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The Sun Zhigang incident () refers to the 2003 death of the migrant worker Sun Zhigang in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, as a result of physical abuse he suffered while being detained under China's
custody and repatriation Custody and repatriation (C&R; ) was an administrative procedure, established in 1982 and abolished in 2003, by which the police in the People's Republic of China (usually cities) could detain people if they did not have a residence permit (huko ...
(C&R) system. The case received massive attention in media and on the
Internet in China China has been on the internet intermittently since May 1989 and on a permanent basis since 20 April 1994, although with limited access. In 2008, China became the country with the largest population on the Internet and, , has remained so. As ...
, resulting in the abolition of the C&R system by the national government.


The victim

Sun Zhigang (; 1976–2003) was from
Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang. It border ...
,
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
Province. He was a graduate of
Wuhan University of Science and Technology The Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST) is a public, comprehensive, research university located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China. It is a key university established and managed by Hubei province and by the Chinese ...
(now Wuhan Textile University). After the Chinese New Year of 2003, he left Hubei for the coastal
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
Province, an area of south China that depends on migrant labor. He first found a job in
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, but later went to
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
to work for Daqi Garment Company.


Detention and death

On March 20, 2003, 27-year-old Sun Zhigang died in the
medical clinic Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
of a detention center () in Guangzhou. He had been detained after being unable to produce his temporary living permit () and his
resident identity card The Resident Identity Card () is an official identity document for personal identification in the People's Republic of China. According to the second chapter, tenth clause of the ''Resident Identity Card Law'', residents are required to apply f ...
when he was stopped by the police. He had not applied for the permit and he had forgotten to carry his ID card. His residence permit (
hukou ''Hukou'' () is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "''huji''" (), and has origins in ancient China; ''hukou'' is the registration of an individual in the system (''kou'' li ...
) was with his family in
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
. He called his friends to bring his ID card. Three days later, a friend called his family to tell them of the death.84 Days and Nights in Guangzhou
, China.org.cn, 8 July 2003.
An official autopsy at
Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...
, authorized by Sun's family, found evidence of a savage beating of his body 72 hours before prior to death. The detention center's medical clinic had reported the cause of death was a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
or a stroke.


Reactions

Sun's family reported the information to investigative reporters at ''
Southern Metropolis Daily Southern Metropolis Daily (SMD) is a for-profit tabloid newspaper located in Guangzhou city, China,Wang, Xiaotong. 2012. "The Comparison Between Newspapers In Hong Kong And Mainland And Its Enlightenment – A Case Study On Apple Daily And Sout ...
'' in
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, on 25 April, during the SARS epidemic—the official reaction or lack of it to
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
had already created much controversy on the Internet, so Internet activity soon skyrocketed, hundreds of thousands of messages, with help from Sun's friends and outraged sympathizers. Some believed that the government censored postings, while most people wanted the government to take some action, but attention was focused only on the Sun case, not the general issue of C&R.Human Rights Watch - Sun Zhigang
/ref> Among these reactions, two groups of senior Chinese legal scholars wrote to the
National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...
, questioning the constitutionality of the custody and repatriation regulation. One particular problem with the regulations was said to be that they had been adopted as regulations by the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
and not as a law by the full Congress. As a result, it was argued, the C&R law for migrant workers was unconstitutional, on the grounds that it violated citizens' rights articles of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
. Chinese law does not provide for constitutional judicial review, and therefore reform of laws deemed unconstitutional is the responsibility of the legislators and administrators. There has been some movement by
legal reform Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing change in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency. Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions, w ...
ers to use courts and bureaucracy to experiment with
constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...
. A similar argument was that the custody and repatriation regulations "violate the 1996 Administrative Punishment Law, which states that administrative punishments which restrict
personal freedom Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...
may only be authorized by laws passed by the ullCongress." Both criticisms echoed statements published in earlier years by lawyers and legal scholars.Nicolas Becquelin,
Enforcing the rural-urban divide: Use of Custody and Repatriation detention triples in 10 years
", ''China Rights Forum'', 2002, no. 2.
In addition to the legal arguments, some reports by those with contact with the detention centers (including an official report) indicated that not only were the conditions worse than prisons or reeducation camps (including beatings and prolonged detentions without trial), but also sometimes the police used the system to kidnap and extort more than expenses from the families of the accused. These reports echoed earlier ignored warnings.


Investigation

''
Southern Metropolis Daily Southern Metropolis Daily (SMD) is a for-profit tabloid newspaper located in Guangzhou city, China,Wang, Xiaotong. 2012. "The Comparison Between Newspapers In Hong Kong And Mainland And Its Enlightenment – A Case Study On Apple Daily And Sout ...
'' chief editor Cheng Yizhong and three editors were charged with corruption in connection with the Sun case reporting, and other offenses. Allegedly Cheng misused funds from a (local) state-owned enterprise. Human rights defense lawyers asserted that the actions were local official revenge for the journalists' expression of press freedom. Whatever the case, their defense lawyers quickly secured his release from prison, as well as that of another, and reduced sentences for the others. Human rights defense lawyers considered the Sun and Cheng cases together as a victory for the budding
weiquan movement The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts, and intellectuals in China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement, which began in the early ...
. In June 2003, two people found directly responsible for murdering Sun were sentenced to death (one suspended), 10 accessories were sent to prison for terms between six months and life, six civil servants were sentenced to prison terms of two to three years for malpractice, and later a head nurse was sentenced to two years in prison. Some criticized the decisions because the police investigated, but they concluded no police were indicted. Sun's father, Sun Liusong, received a $53,000 settlement from the government and stated "now Zhigang can sleep well in the nether world."


Legacy

On 20 June 2003, Premier
Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic polic ...
announced the abolition of the custody and repatriation system, effective August 1. The detention centers would be replaced by service stations to care for poor beggars or homeless persons under the new ''Measures for Assisting Vagrants and Beggars with No Means of Support in Cities''. The centers for vagrants are not allowed to collect fees from families nor require them to work. The legal system of hukou and residency and work permits for migrant workers was unchanged.China: Beijing’s Migrant Construction Workers Abused
, Human Rights Watch, 12 March 2008


References

{{reflist 2003 crimes in China Human rights abuses in China History of Guangzhou Crime in Guangzhou Migrant workers Events in Guangzhou