本論文將研究在2013年習近平主席上任不到幾個月以來，並在中國共產黨不斷承諾要改善國家法治的情況下，中國為何在國家電視台上開始播出犯罪嫌疑人的電視認罪。這些電視認罪的播出引起了來自海外的廣泛譴責，從某種程度上在國內也受到了批評，因為電視認罪的播出被視為國家非法壓迫人的手段，並被認為是在重演當年毛澤東時代不公正的批判鬥爭行為。本論文是第一項對這種新侵權行為的系統研究，並試圖填補該研究領域的空白。本作者通過採訪在電視上曾經認罪過的人發現許多電視認罪是有“表演”色彩，往往犯罪嫌疑人被迫“背台詞”、穿著特定的服裝、在攝像頭面前“演戲”等。這表明國家在利用電視認罪來達到某種特定的目的。作者對90個2013年至2016年之間播出的電視認罪進行了分析並發現認罪者當局故意讓嫌疑人感到恥辱來強調他們有罪，使用嫌疑人認罪時所使用的話來牽連他人或貶低他人，以支持中共的這種行為並對於來自國外批評的聲音做出回應。本論文借用François Bourricaud （1987年）對合法性的概念作為一種活躍的合法化進程以表明中國新的電視認罪行為不只是簡單的進行壓迫的工具，而更多是一種強制性推動共產黨合法性的戲劇表演。

This study asks why China started broadcasting confessions of suspects on national television in 2013, just months after the accession of President Xi Jinping, and despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) repeated promises to improve the country’s rule of law. The broadcasts have triggered widespread condemnation overseas, and to a lesser extent at home, for being illegal, another example of state repression, and resembling the unjust public struggle sessions of the Mao era. This thesis attempts to fill a gap in scholarship and provide the first systematic study of this new and understudied human rights violation. Interviews conducted with those who had confessed on television revealed that many are “show” confessions, where the suspect is made to memorise “lines,” get in “costume,” and “act” in front of the camera, indicating that they are “produced” for a specific purpose. In addition, an analysis of 90 confessions aired between 2013 and 2016 revealed that deliberate efforts were made to shame the confessor, emphasize their guilt, and use the words of their confession to incriminate and denigrate others, promote support for the CCP and its actions and respond to outside criticism. Borrowing François Bourricaud’s (1987) concept of legitimacy as a dynamic process of legitimation, China’s new televised confessions can be seen as much more than simply another tool of repression, rather they are acts of forced theatre aimed at furthering CCP legitimacy.

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