reform

Ankang Psychiatric Detention Centers and China's New Mental Health Law

In most countries, mental health facilities are places of refuge for those who are mentally ill. In China, however, this is not necessarily the case. The Ankang mental health hospitals in China have long been utilized by the state to involuntarily confine those who are considered “troublemakers” by relatives, local police, and the Communist Party. In reality, the Ankang (安康) is a component of China’s vast system of arbitrary detention institutions.