TRIALS OF DISSIDENTS OF THE 1989 DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT - THE LIMITS OF CRIMINAL-JUSTICE UNDER TENG HSIAO-PING

Mainland Chinese dissidents have been extremely vulnerable to criminal prosecution when exercising their constitutional rights. Vivid examples of this are the Hu Feng incident and the Anti-Rightist Campaign in Mao's era and the trial of Wei Ching-sheng (Wei Jingsheng) under Teng Hsiao-p'ing (Deng Xiaoping). Ten years of legal reform initiated by Teng and the Communist regime's increasing political tolerance had not only created the image that mainland China was on the road toward becoming a legal society, but also suggested that the government was moving toward political relaxation. The atmosphere was optimistic as prominent dissidents like Fang Li-chih (Fang Lizhi) and Wang Jo-shui (Wang Ruoshui) remained free from political oppression and legal accusations. Against such a background, this article inquires into the recent trials of the dissidents who participated in the 1989 democracy movement which ended in a bloody massacre and a nationwide purge. The objectives are to identify the sources of the dissidents' criminal responsibility, and to analyze and evaluate the legality and the process of dispensing justice to those who were tried. On this basis, the article moves on to assess the limits of legal justice in respect to dissidents in mainland China with reference to the political tolerance of the Communist Party as well as the legal consciousness of the Party leadership after more than a decade of legal reform.