When it comes to death penalty, it is confirmed that rates are decreasing worldwide through the pass of the years. However, there are always exceptions against the general rule, as it is the case of China: it is the top one country at death executions. Regarding this affair, it exists great controversy against the State. In addition, it has been discovered that most of the executions they carry out are made secretly by the decision of the leaders.
Numerical data
During the last 2018, it has been registered along 2,531 death sentences in 54 countries. Among these numbers, China is known for being the country that executed more people than all the other countries in the world as a whole. For the Chinese case, the number of death sentences during the past years is estimated to be around the thousands. However, it cannot be known for sure. During the last years, several investigations carried out by Amnesty International had revealed that the Chinese Government is hiding most of the documents about death penalty, justifying their actions by proclaiming them under China’s secrecy law.
State secret
As a consequence of the information that came to light with the diverse investigations carried out on the matter, the Chinese Government has recognized that for years they have been executing people in a secret manner. That is the reason why there are not exact numbers of the executions of the country.
China’s database only contains some of the thousands death sentences estimated to be handed out every year among its territory. According to Amnesty International, between 2014 and 2016 at least 931 individuals were executed, but only 85 of them were really notified in the state database.
After the publications of the several investigations and reports that leaded China to be one of the worst countries in terms of judicial transparency and openness, additional material came also to light for making even more evident the secrecy practices they were performing. Videos, statements, experiences and other notices make visible the executions they were just trying to hide.
Why can you be sentenced to death in China?
Taking into consideration the great number of executions that China’s government carries out along a year, there is a huge list of crimes in the country that are punishable by death. Despite the National People’s Assembly of China reduced in 2011 the number of crimes punished with execution, nowadays there are 55 different offences which are still sanctioned with one of the two methods used for so: lethal injection or shooting.
Regarding the Chinese judicial decisions over crimes, it exists big controversy. Not only among the Chinese citizens, but along other countries. The most recent case of conflict between states potencies, it is the judicial sentence to death towards a Canadian man for committing drug crime. Once again, it has risen a debate within Western countries: Is China sentencing foreigners to make pressure and intimidate other countries?
China does not play with drug issues
Despite China’s judicial sentences are rarely directed to people from Western countries (as they try to maintain good relationships with those state members). When dealing with drug offences, there is no applicable justification for them. Evidence thereof are the 19 foreigners that were condemned to death because of that matter between 2009 and 2015.
"Drug trafficking is a grave crime worldwide"
1. Akmal Shaikh
It happened first with the British Akmal Shaikh. He was executed by the Chinese government on 2009. The man was punished for carrying 4 kilograms of heroin to Urumqi Airport. After that, Shaikh became the first European who was sentenced to death in China over 50 years.
Even though China tried to maintain the peaceful relationship between both nations, the tension and confrontation between countries due to the judicial actions were inevitable.
2. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg
The British case is not the only one. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg is the Canadian man who recently has given rise again to huge debates worldwide. He has provoked great dispute, not only between the two states involved, but around many countries which still consider China’s actions unsustainable.
On March 2016, he was firstly sentenced to prison because of his implication in drug smuggling. After two years, in December 2018, a High Court ordered a new judicial trial in which he was finally sentenced to death. This time, he had more luck: after the Canadian’s government appeals for leniency and the controversy generated globally, the Chinese Court decided to declare null the death judgement.
"Taste of their own medicine"
Many are the ones that suspect and are surprised about this case. On December 2018, the Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the finance chief of the Chinese tech company Huawei. This raised an important diplomatic and political tension between both countries. Prove of it are the several Canadian citizens that have been detained in China since Wanzhou’s detention.
In addition, on January 2019, the Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye, confirmed that the detention of two Canadians in China was a counter response to Meng’s arrest. After this latest declaration, the response to why Schellenberg’ judicial sentence was sent back to the Court was even more obvious for most of the people.
Things change when talking about not Western countries
Even though China looks very careful to its actions against Western nations, as its objective is to maintain apparent good relationship, things really change when it comes to not Western countries.
Against Colombia
Despite Colombia’s requested clemency to prevent the execution of Ismael Enrique Arciniegas, a 74 year-old man accused of drug trafficking, China turned a deaf hear to the claims and approved the death sentence to the Colombian. But things do not end in here, currently there are more Colombians sentenced to death.
Other not Western examples
But, If there is really something that confirms China as a leader executor among foreigners outside the West, it is the amount of registered citizens sentenced to death in just one year. In 2016, 120 people from Uganda, South Korea, Japan and Kenya were executed because of drug crimes in China.
China: the exception to the general
What it is unquestionable is that numbers, examples and statements corroborate that China is a leader, not only in economic issues, but in capital punishment as well. They take really seriously crimes affairs –especially drug smuggling-, and when it comes to judicial decisions, the country’s condemnations are direct and radical. Many are the ones that still linking China’s punishments more with politics and convenience than with real justice. But, thinks seems not as clear as the government publications does only reveal little part of reality. For sure, it is still unknown much more information that continues been kept as a secret state.