China arrested 92,574 underage criminals in 2006, a 33-percent rise from
2003, said an official with the Supreme People's Procuratorate yesterday.
The number of juvenile delinquents prosecuted increased by 50 percent, said
the official, without giving a specific figure.
About one in 10 criminals detained and prosecuted in 2006 was underage, said
the official.
"There is a visible increase in gang crime among juvenile delinquents and
crimes have become more violent," the official said. "This is a major issue
which endangers social stability."
Theft, robbery and assault are the three major types of juvenile crime,
accounting for 98 percent of the total, said the official.
Wu Heping, spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, said in April that
preliminary statistics showed many juvenile delinquents had been negatively
influenced by the Internet.
"In a high proportion of robbery, sexual assault and fraud cases involving
young people, the Internet is a factor," Wu said.
Also on Thursday, a spokesman with the Supreme People's Court said that more
than 430,000 defendants under the age of 18 were convicted on criminal charges
in China from 2000 to 2006.
The spokesman said China had set up 2,420 juvenile tribunals, which could
handle almost all juvenile criminal cases.
He said the juvenile tribunals paid great attention to protecting the legal
rights of the accused minors.
"Education and correction, rather than punishment, has always been China's
core principle in dealing with juvenile crimes," the spokesman said.