The Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee held a press conference on the theme of "China in the Past Decade" on July 25, 2022. Screenshot of State Council Information Office.

The sense of security among Chinese people increased to 98.62 percent in 2021, the highest level over the past decade and China is widely regarded by the international community as one of the safest countries in the world, the Ministry of Public Security stated on Monday.

The Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee held a press conference on the theme of "China in the Past Decade" on Monday, introducing the achievements of the public security organs in promoting the achievement of a greater level of peace in China.

During the conference, Sun Maoli, member of the Party committee of Ministry of Public Security reported that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, public security organs across the country have stepped up efforts to build a safer China, making social governance more socialized, law-based, intelligent, and professional, and constantly increasing the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security.

People's sense of security increased from 87.55 percent in 2012 to 98.62 percent in 2021, Sun noted.

Sun also said that in recent years, with the rapid development of information society, significant changes have taken place in the structure of crime. New types of crime network represented by telecom network fraud crime has become the most mainstream form of crime now, especially under the current complex COVID-19 epidemic situation, Sun noted. 

To address these problems, China has worked hard to overcome these difficulties and has sent teams to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions to carry out international law enforcement cooperation. Nearly 1,000 suspects have been repatriated from overseas, effectively deterring overseas fraud groups, Sun introduced.

Recently, the case of assault against a group of women at a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan, North China's Hebei Province, had made headlines across China, sparking public concern over personal safety. Liu Zhongyi, director of the Ministry of Public Security noted on Monday that the case has caused widespread concern. "The Ministry of Public Security attached great importance to the case. It immediately dispatched a working group and experts from all across the country to guide the investigation. Currently, the investigation of the case is progressing smoothly, and details will be released to the public," Liu noted.

The Tangshan incident not only came to focus in Chinese media, but also many foreign media outlets, with some outlets labeling it as "horrific violence against women." 

On June 14, CNN published an article entitled "'This could happen to any of us': Graphic video of men stomping on a woman's head shakes China to the core" and alleged that "the relatively light punishment for gender violence has failed to deter transgressors" in China, in an attempt to portray the country as an unsafe place.

In response to these concerns, Liu said that so far, criminal investigation departments have solved 49,000 criminal cases and arrested 72,000 suspects during the 100-day campaign made to crack down on issues threatening public security, a campaign that started over the summer, effectively safeguarding public security.

Since the regular operation targeting gang-related crimes, public security organs have cracked down on 249 gang-related organizations and 1,486 criminal groups, and have arrested 22,000 criminal suspects, the conference reported.

Global Times