The central problem facing criminal justice agency operations in China today is the incompatible demand placed on criminal justice agencies to deliver justice severely and swiftly and without jeopardizing China’s evolving “rule of law.” In an era that is touted as “rule of law,” China continues to employ crime control routines of the past. These crime control routines are part of Yanda, a type of nationwide anticrime campaign dealing with outbreaks of crime or increased crime trends. Yanda is the policy of striking heavy blows at the enemies of China’s modernization drive. It is argued that China has not fully completed the transformation into a market economy. It is acknowledged that Yanda will not solve the crime problem, but it is not likely that Yanda policy will disappear in the near future. In summary, crime in China seems largely undeterred by severity and swiftness and despite continual drives, “severity and swiftness” initiatives are running dry. This paper discusses some key concepts for understanding the criminal justice system of a country that is fast becoming the second most economically and geopolitically powerful nation in the world. The paper examines the Strike Hard policy of “severity and swiftness” in an attempt to achieve three objectives: provide insight into the machinations of criminal justice operation in China’s anticrime campaigns, to explain official justifications for the policy, and to give voice to alternative commentaries and opinions of Chinese criminal justice researchers and practitioners. Table, references