In August 1983, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Decision on Strictly Crackdown on Criminal Activities", which was known as "Crackdown Hard" in history. This three-year campaign takes a high-pressure approach to criminal offenses based on the principle of "hard and fast". Against this background, some cases that might have been sentenced to lighter sentences in the past were given harsher sentences.
In the spring of 1984, the crackdown entered its second year. The streets and alleys are plastered with slogans "Strike hard against criminals", public trials are held frequently in cities and counties, and trucks carrying criminals with signs hanging around their necks paraded through the streets has become a normal sight. The whole society is filled with a mixed feeling of supporting public order rectification but also having doubts about certain judgments.
It was in this atmosphere of the times that 25-year-old Li Cheng ushered in a turning point in his destiny.
