Mainland China's Detention Centers Overcrowded: Where Are All the "Suspects" Coming From?

Job Fairs Are Packed, But Few Are Finding Employment (Video Screenshot)

[People News] As China’s economy declines and unemployment soars, many citizens are struggling to make ends meet. Recently, multiple media outlets and social platforms, both inside and outside China, quoted Chinese lawyers revealing that the economic pressure is driving people to take risks, leading to a surge in arrests. Detention centers in China are reportedly overcrowded this year, with the number of arrests increasing by 18.5% in the first half of the year and convictions up by 8.47%. Activities that were not previously considered criminal are now being penalized, leading to a phenomenon known as the “criminalization of lawful behavior.” Additionally, many Chinese citizens have opted to seek livelihoods abroad, with a significant number attempting to enter the U.S., causing the Chinese government international embarrassment. This has led to increased interceptions and detentions in Central American countries, further contributing to the overcrowding of detention centers.

Yesterday, journalist and blogger Li Muyang revealed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is extending its law enforcement reach to multiple countries, establishing secret police stations to arrest and repatriate Chinese citizens, particularly those attempting to enter the U.S. via Central America. This exacerbates the already overcrowded detention centers in China.

Li Muyang and former journalist Zhao Lanjian, based on interviews, reported that the CCP is targeting Chinese nationals in Central American countries along traditional migration routes to the U.S., using both overt and covert means. The overt channels involve consulates collaborating with local so-called "patriotic associations" to capture Chinese migrants, while covert methods involve cooperation with local officials. The conditions in these detention centers are reportedly horrific, with Chinese detainees suffering the worst treatment due to CCP influence. The CCP uses various tactics, including pressuring the detainees' relatives back in China to pay or exert influence to force their repatriation. From late September to mid-October, between 10 to over 100 Chinese nationals were repatriated daily.

Sharp Increase in Arrests

Most of these detained individuals are ordinary citizens. Many of the Chinese attempting to enter the U.S. are doing so because of economic hardships, domestic unemployment, or oppressive political conditions in China. They seek freedom and human rights abroad.

According to U.S. government data, 24,000 Chinese nationals crossed into the U.S. illegally in 2023. As of February 2024, 18,755 Chinese migrants had arrived, with estimates indicating that this number will surpass the 2023 total. In contrast, between 2012 and 2022, fewer than 15,000 Chinese nationals were caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that from October 2022 to April 2023, over 6,500 Chinese nationals were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, a record number and more than 15 times the total from the same period a year earlier.

According to records from the Panamanian government, more than 2,000 Chinese nationals crossed from Colombia into Panama in 2022, six times the total number from the previous decade before the pandemic. From January to July 2023, more than 10,000 Chinese nationals crossed from Colombia into Panama. In 2023, more than 37,000 Chinese nationals were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border, 50 times the number in 2021. Chinese migrants now represent the fastest-growing group among all nationalities, prompting U.S. border patrol agents to ask: "What is happening in China (the CCP)?"

Mainland China’s Detention Centers Overcrowded

According to information released by the Ministry of Public Security in January, there are more than 2,300 detention centers in mainland China. These facilities also house convicts sentenced to less than a year in prison or those whose remaining sentence is under a year, as they are not suitable for transfer to labor reform facilities.

The CCP's prosecution office announced that in the first half of 2024, 367,000 people were arrested and 761,000 were prosecuted, reflecting an 18.5% and 6.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the Supreme People’s Court reported that 788,000 individuals had been convicted, a 8.47% rise from the previous year.

Recently, several Chinese lawyers, including Sichuan lawyer Wang Rui, revealed that detention centers are overflowing, and many regions are planning expansions. Wang reported that during a client visit, he learned that a cell designed for 12 people was holding more than 20. In the sweltering heat, inmates had to sleep on their sides in shared beds, with some forced to sleep on the floor. The cells lack air conditioning, and even electric fans cannot be used.

The "Economy of Arrests"

Why are so many more people being arrested? Several lawyers, including Wang Rui, pointed out that the CCP has turned arrests into an economic strategy. Beyond targeting corrupt officials, authorities have begun using "suspect economy" tactics to generate revenue. For example, individuals attempting to cross borders illegally are fined or bribed out of custody—$2,000 per person goes directly into the pockets of police and translators. Domestically, police use ID checks as a pretext for detention, charging citizens with arbitrary crimes. Even minor offenses are upgraded to more serious ones, with the ultimate goal of extracting money from detainees. Those who refuse to pay in detention centers are subjected to harsh sentences by courts. Once a guilty verdict is secured, the government can legally seize all of the individual’s assets.

There are many ways in which the CCP has increased the opportunities for arrests, including:

1. Economic Pressure: With mortgages, car loans, and job stress mounting, many people are turning to gray or black markets, engaging in activities like pyramid schemes, fraud, and money laundering. Additionally, as businesses face declining revenues, practices like invoice falsification and contract fraud have increased.

2. Criminalization of Legal Behavior: Previously overlooked actions are now being treated as crimes. For example, small business owners lacking proper licenses are charged with illegal operations, and delayed payments in business dealings are now being treated as fraud.

3. Escalation of Minor Offenses: Even gathering wild vegetables or catching small fish could lead to arrest. In some cases, playing mahjong or running a small teahouse has resulted in criminal charges.

4. Crackdowns: Local public security and prosecution offices across China have intensified crackdowns, particularly targeting prostitution, gambling, new types of economic crime, and corruption in the healthcare sector.

Amplification of Enforcement: The CCP’s Repressive System

Experts believe that the CCP is a system without checks and balances, especially in sectors like law enforcement, the military, and the disciplinary commission. The actions of those in power remain largely unknown to the outside world. The system criminalizes people based on identity rather than behavior. For instance, if someone is labeled as having dissenting beliefs or ideas, they could be charged with anti-party crimes, subjected to torture, and imprisoned—even if they were merely exploring these ideas out of curiosity.

What’s more dangerous is that within the CCP system, all orders are amplified at every level. Since officials derive their power from those above them, a single directive from the top is magnified as it trickles down, resulting in extreme actions. For example, during the era of the one-child policy, having an additional child could result in workers being laid off, or farmers having their homes destroyed. During the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests, civilians were labeled as "rioters" and subjected to violent crackdowns. Similarly, during the Cultural Revolution, intellectuals branded as "stinking ninths" were persecuted to death, and Falun Gong practitioners faced midnight raids and property seizures.

This extreme law enforcement stems from the CCP’s fundamentally evil and anti-humanity culture. Its authoritarian system is like an operating system that’s overly sensitive and intolerant of errors, lacking mechanisms for moral correction. This makes systemic collapse likely. Once the system can no longer function, power struggles and internal conflicts will emerge, as was the case in Mao Zedong's era—and the same dynamics are at play today.

The CCP now faces severe internal and external crises, particularly due to the downward economic pressure. Local government revenues are shrinking, leaving officials to rely on fines and taxes to make up the difference. Corrupt officials know the system is at a breaking point, and with irreconcilable tensions between the government and the people, they are pushing the system to its breaking point. The problems are numerous and severe, with sudden changes likely at any moment. There are crises of governance and legitimacy, among others, yet the CCP continues to project an image of success, hiding the true state of affairs.