Is China Ready to Rethink Its Approach to Minor Crimes?

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Misdemeanors are increasingly the focus of law enforcement, for better or for worse. One night in late 2018, a woman suddenly fainted and fell to the ground in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. Unsure how long it would take an ambulance to arrive, and unable to arrange alternative transportation, her husband, surnamed Chen, decided to drive her to the hospital, despite having consumed alcohol earlier that evening. Before the pair could reach the hospital, Chen’s car was pulled over by traffic police on suspicion of drunk driving. Despite the extenuating circumstances, the local prosecutor’s office eventually filed misdemeanor criminal charges for reckless driving. The decision to file charges was almost a given from the moment Chen’s car was stopped, as China has taken an increasingly strict stance on misdemeanors in recent years. But what came next was more surprising: In late 2019, a local court ruled that Chen’s behavior constituted an “emergency necessity,” and a ………………………………