Disappearing someone means you dont know why they disappeared. You guess, and so your own fears will give you the FUD needed to avoid pissing off the authorities. It's a more efficient and effective tactic.
The prosecution rate is over 99% in China. That's hardly a challenge.
If you don't know, then how can you know when you aren't breaking any laws?
I mean - you could be doing everything "by the book" - but then they "make a law" that makes it illegal to do something which you were doing fine the day before, but they don't tell you about that law- then they haul you in...
And seriously, nobody can really keep ahead of every law - even in western countries - it's all a sham, really; not even judges nor prosecutors are aware of all the laws. I don't even think legislators know them all. There's just way too many; at any point all of us are breaking some kind of law at some level. When nobody can honestly know the law, not even those who are supposed to interpret it, or create it, or prosecute it, it's lost its original purpose, and has become nothing more than a means of control thru fear.
I guess in this way, the "west" isn't that much different than China, we just each pretend about different things.
you don't. You constantly appease the party, constantly on the look out for things that could go wrong, and constantly do proactive things to make yourself useful to the party, and don't even associate with individuals who even slightly hints at critisizing the party.
now everyone else eager to pay back