China released two typical crackdown cases of the connection between administrative enforcement of law and criminal justice 
On March 19, 2021, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Work Safety Committee of China jointly released two typical crackdown cases of the connection between administrative enforcement of law and criminal justice. Outline of these two cases are as follows.
Case of illegal storage of hazardous chemicals in Hangzhou, Zhejiang
On March 8, 2021, when the law enforcement officials of Xiaoshan District Emergency Management Bureau of Hangzhou, Zhejiang conducted law enforcement inspection on a company, they found that a large amount of hazardous chemicals, such as acetylene and nitrogen gas cylinders are stored in the factory warehouse. After verification, the company does not have the permit of handling hazardous chemical, and also the warehouse does not have the safety conditions for storing hazardous chemicals. The law enforcement officials ordered the company to stop storing hazardous chemicals and distrained these gas cylinders. After that, the case was transferred from Emergency Management Bureau to the Public Security Agency, and the suspect was imposed a criminal detention.
Case of “crime of dangerous operation” in Tsingtao, Shandong
On March 9, 2021, when the Emergency Management Bureau of West Coast New District, Tsingtao City, Shandong Province conducted a night inspection at a container storage logistic terminal at Qianwan Port, found there are two containers which store a total of 43.4 tons of dichloromethane, and other six containers which store a total of 120 tons of toluene diisocyanate (TDI). According to the result of survey, the related company does not have the permit of handling hazardous chemical, and also the storage place does not have the safety conditions for storing hazardous chemicals. The law enforcement officials ordered the company to stop storing hazardous chemicals, and distrained these 163.2 tons of dangerous chemicals which are suspecting of illegal handling. After that, the case was transferred from Emergency Management Bureau to the Public Security Agency, and the Public Security Agency filed the case on suspect of “crime of dangerous operation” and conducted an investigation into the suspect.
The revised “Criminal Law”, which has come into effect on March 1, 2021, provides clear provisions on the situations of being charged with “crime of dangerous operation”. The prescribed situations include handling and storing hazardous items without permission. If the above-mentioned criminal case in Tsingtao City is executed, it will be the first case in which the crime of dangerous operation is applied in a situation where no serious fatal accident has occurred.
For the original text of the above contents, please refer to the following URL (in simplified Chinese).
https://www.mem.gov.cn/xw/yjglbgzdt/202103/t20210319_381650.shtml
