The mainland of the People's Republic of China currently uses capital punishment for a variety of crimes, ranging from tax evasion, corruption and racketeering to murder. It currently executes more people each year than the rest of the world put together. According to Amnesty International, at least 3,400 people were executed in 2004. This was almost 90% of the reported world total. A senior Chinese legislator suggested in March 2004 that China executes "nearly 10,000" people each year [1].

Although the exact numbers of people executed in China is classified as a state secret, many death penalty cases were posted publicly by the judiciary on message boards after the sentence was carried out, such postings were quite distinguishable from others by a big red tick near the bottom.

The philosophy behind the application of captial punishment in China can best be understood from a famous line often attached to official news reports in death penalty cases: "If capital punishment is not applied, it would not be enough to calm the anger of the people. (不殺不足以平民憤)"

The state controlled media, Xinhua News Agency, reported in March 2005 that the court has shown a human touch by allowing the execution of a condemned person to be delayed for one day so that he can have the chance to see his family one last time and bid them farewell.

Compared with developed countries in the rest of the world, death sentences were carried out much faster in China. Usually from the time of trial to the time of execution the length of time would be less than one year, and often times only months. As of 2005, after the first trial (一審) concluded with a sentence of death, the inmate has seven days to appeal to the provincial supreme courts, which resulted in the second trial (二審). This usually is the last trial for the condemned. If the second trial concluded with a sentence of death, it was to be carried out immediately.

Capital punishment in China is not applied on a uniform basis. At times, the government will have so-called "strike-hard" (嚴打) campaigns aiming to warn the public against committing certain crimes. During such times, the courts will adopt a so-called "act fast, act hard" (從快從重) posture and will hand down punishment more severely and quickly.

It is also unique in that China has a "death sentence with two years' probation" (死緩). This sentence is generally reduced to life imprisonment after two years. It has been debated in various forums in China that the difference between a death sentence and a a death sentence with two years' probation is too large, with even life imprisonment usually meaning serving 15 to 20 years.

Capital punishment in China has also been used as a political tool. In 2003, a local court sentenced the leader of a triad organization to a death sentence with two years of probation. However, the public opinion was that the sentence was too light. Under public pressure, the supreme court of China took the case and retried the leader, resulting in a death sentence which was carried out immediately.

However, at a recent diplomatic event in Germany, senior Chinese state officials have commented that China, in the long run, will eventually abolish the death penalty. In 2004, senior judicial officials issued an instruction to judges urging them to use the death penalty with caution. As of 2004 and 2005, state controlled media in China has reported that the government is seriously considering to take back the final approval authority of capital punishment from the provincial supreme courts to the People's Supreme Court (provincial supreme court in China is similar to that of state supreme court in the USA, and people's supreme court of China is similar to that of the federal supreme court in the USA). Such authority has been delegated from the People's Supreme Court to the provincial supreme courts since February 12, 1980.

In the past, the government liked to use sports stadiums as a place for sentencing criminals with the conclusion of the second trial. Large crowds would gathered to witness the sentencing, after which those condemned to die were led to the execution grounds. The condemned were tied up, with a rope around the neck to gag them should they scream or shout during the proceedings. They are allowed to wear their own clothes on the execution day. Their fate would usually be revealed to them the day before. Execution in China usually takes place around 10:00 in the morning.

The execution grounds has three perimeters: the innermost 50 m² the responsibility of the execution team; the 200 m² radius from the center, the responsibility of the armed police, and the 2 km² alert line, the responsibility of the local police. The public is not allowed to view the execution.

China currently uses two methods of execution. The most common is execution by firearms, which uses an assault rifle to fire a single shot of a hollow point bullet designed to expand upon impact, resulting in the disintegration of the upper portion of the brain. The other method, lethal injection was introduced in 1997. It differs from the application in the U.S. in that it is being carried out in fixed location as well as in specially modified mobile vans. As the method of lethal injection is becoming more popular, another debate in China is that those high officials executed because of corruption usually gets lethal injection while ordinary criminals got executed by firearms. It is public opinion in China that the lethal injection method is an easier way for the condemned to die.

It was an infamous practice in the past that the government collects a so called "bullet fee (子彈費)" from the relatives of the condemned.

The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau have separate judiciaries and local laws and do not have capital punishment. This has created a barrier to the creation of proper extradition laws between the SARs and the mainland. It is quite a concern to many residents of the SARs that in many crimes with concurrent jurisdiction the central authorities have claimed the right to try, and potentially sentence to die, residents of Hong Kong and Macau.

External links

• Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) on death penalty in China
• Photos depicting the execution of female condemned prisoners in China Warning: Extreme graphical content. Viewer discretion advised.
• Executed “according to law”? The death penalty in China
• The Chinese Human Rights Web