Calls have been made to reduce the age of criminal responsibility, currently 14, after a mother revealed on social media that a male classmate had threatened her daughter with a knife. The boy was under the age of criminal responsibility, so was not charged with a criminal offense.
Voices online argued that reducing the age would lower the rate of juvenile delinquency, because children would think twice before committing an illegal act.
Liu Changsong, writing for the Guangming Daily, said there is no need to lower the age of criminal responsibility. This age is set according to whether a child can display self-control and can distinguish right from wrong.
Also, the rate of juvenile delinquency is actually decreasing, Liu said. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the rate of juvenile delinquency in 2016 decreased by 47.6 percent compared with 2010. A White Paper on the trials of minors issued by the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court reveals that the rate of juvenile delinquency overall shows a downward trend.
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