Some historical aspects of penal transportation and labour as measures of criminal punishment in Russia and China

The article, based on archival materials and statistical data, presents the historical experience of applying such types of criminal punishment as penal transportation and labour. Interest in this topic is caused by proposals expressed in recent years by politicians and scientists to return penal transportation as a form of punishment to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in order to resolve issues of demography and provision of labour resources in Siberia and the Far East. The article is devoted to the history of penal transportation and labour in Siberia, in particular in Transbaikalia, in the pre-revolutionary period, as well as to similar punishments in China. We focus on such aspects as individual historical stages in the development of penal transportation and labour in two states, positive and negative experiences of their use. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the influence of transported criminals and convicts on the local population. Thus, it is emphasized that the involvement of local residents in crime, the spread of criminal morals and, as a result, an increase in crime took place. A special feature of the study is the analysis of Chinese historiographical sources regarding penal transportation and labour. So, the experience of foreign countries could be taken into account when deciding on the return of these types of punishment.