ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the populist dimension of punishment and its association with the political ethos of law and criminal justice in China. By examining the relationship between populism and punishment in the Chinese social and political contexts, in what follows the author aims to unfold the magnitude and trajectory of populist justice and its implications for the Chinese contemporary penal policies and criminal justice strategies. The chapter suggests that China has undergone a series of similar socio-cultural transformations with those manifested elsewhere. Since the Chinese economic modernization in 1978, China has experienced a set of similar socio-cultural changes in the process of market liberalization. The penal policy encourages legal authorities to impose harsh punishment on serious crimes but also encourages them to be lenient toward minor crimes, especially those not reflecting malice or posing significant risk of harm to society.
