Picking quarrels and provoking trouble


Picking quarrels and provoking trouble is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China. It comes under article 293 of the 1997 revision of the People's Republic of China's Penal Code, and carries a maximum sentence of five years. The crime is defined as undermining public order by creating a disturbance in a public place.
As this is an ill-defined crime, it has frequently been used as an excuse to arrest human rights activists, civil rights activists, and lawyers in China, and hold them in detention pending more serious charges such as inciting subversion of state power.

Text of the law

Article 293 of the 1997 Criminal Code of the People's Republic of China:

Article 293. Whoever undermines public order with anyone of the following provocative and disturbing behaviors is to be sentenced to not more than five years of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, or control:
willfully attacking another person and the circumstances are bad;
chasing, intercepting, or cursing another person, and the circumstances are bad;
forcibly taking away, demanding, or willfully damaging or seizing public or private property; and the circumstances are serious;
creating a disturbance in a public place, causing serious disorder.

List of notable people charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble