1 Foreign governments, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom criticized China's use of capital punishment in 1989. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have long expressed grave concern about the widespread use of the death penalty in post-Mao China. See, for example, Amnesty International, The Death Penalty: Amnesty International Report (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1979), pp. 72–78; Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights: Prisoners of Conscience and the Death Penalty in the People's Republic of China (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1984), p. 1; and Amnesty International, When the State Kills… the Death Penalty: a Human Rights Issue (New York: Amnesty International Publications, 1989), pp. 121–23.

2 The results of a national survey conducted in early 1989 showed that personal safety (i.e. the threat of crime) is a serious worry for urban dwellers. Only inflation ranks higher on their list of top concerns. Xinhua, 10 May 1989 cited in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: China (hereafter FBIS-CHI) 16 May 1989, pp. 61–62.

3 Among the works dealing with the death penalty in the People's Republic are Cohen, Jerome Alan, The Criminal Process in the People's Republic of China, 1949–1963: An Introduction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights; Stephen Davis, B., “The death penalty and legal reform in the PRC,” Journal of Chinese Law, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1987), pp. 303–334Google Scholar; Andrew Scobell, “Strung up or shot down?: The death penalty in Hong Kong and China and implications for post-1997,” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1988), pp. 147–167.

4 Bodde, Derk and Morris, Clarence, Law in Imperial China: Exemplified by 190 Ch'ing Dynasty Cases (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1967), pp. 76–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 For the number of capital offences in different dynasties, see ibid. pp. 102–105. For methods of execution, see ibid. pp. 91–95.

6 Ibid. pp. 99–100, 495–500.

7 Ibid. pp. 495–500, also 41–43, 101–102.

8 Ibid. pp. 41–42, 45–48, 82–83, 130–143, and 533–540. See also the excerpt entitled “Seek to preserve life,” from the “Tso-chih yao-yan” (“Precepts for Local Administrative Officials”) by the celebrated Qing magistrate Wang Hui-tsu, translated in Sybille Sprenkel, Van Der, Legal Institutions in Manchu China: A Sociological Analysis (London: University of London, Athlone Press, 1962), p. 140.Google Scholar

9 Wuhan daxue falü bianzhu (Wuhan University Law Department) (ed.), Faxue zhishi shouce (Handbook of Legal Studies) (Zhongzhou: Guji Chubanshe, 1986), pp. 216–17.

10 “Woguo waijiaobu fayanren shuo: Nanfei dangju panjue bugongzheng, liuge wugu heiren gai shifang” (”Our foreign ministry spokesman says: The South African authorities’ sentence is unjust, six innocent blacks should be set free”), Renmin ribao-haiwaiban (People's Daily -overseas edition), 26 November 1988, p. 1.

11 Amnesty International, The Death Penalty, pp. 130–39; and Amnesty International, “USSR: The death penalty debate,” November 1987 (AI Index 46/40/87).

12 See Lipson, Leon, “Execution: Hallmark of ‘Socialist Legality',” Problems of Communism, Vol. 11, No. 5 (1962), p. 23Google Scholar; and Amnesty International, “USSR: The death penalty debate,” pp. 1–2.

13 Teaching and Research Office for Criminal Law of the Central Political-Legal Cadre's School, (ed.), “Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo xingfa zongze jiangyi” (“Lectures on the general principles of criminal law of the People's Republic of China”), translated in Cohen, The Criminal Process, p. 538.

14 Ibid. p. 81.

15 “Strike surely, accurately and relentlessly in suppressing counter-revolutionaries,” Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Vol. 5 (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1977), pp. 53–56.

16 “Talk at a Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee (17 January 1986),” in Xiaoping, Deng, Fundamental Issues in Present-Day China (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1987), p. 137.Google Scholar

17 Ibid. p. 138.

18 Renmin ribao, 18 January 1984 translated in FBIS-CHI, 23 January 1984, p. K7. However, there is at least acknowledgement that capital punishment is the subject of “heated debate” in the world at large. Wuhan University Law Department, Handbook of Legal Studies, p. 217.

19 Deng Xiaoping, “Talk at a Meeting,” pp. 137–38.

20 See Renmin ribao, 25 June 1981, translated in FBIS-CHI, 30 June 1981, p. K23.

21 Deng Xiaoping, “Talk at a meeting,” pp. 137–38.

22 See a statement by the Minister of Public Security that appeared in Renmin ribao, 28 September 1959 translated in Cohen, The Criminal Process, p. 539. Fora more recent example, see an article in Renmin ribao, 25 June 1981 translated in FBIS-CHI, 30 June 1981, pp. K21–K25.

23 See Mao, “Strike surely, accurately and relentlessly,” p. 56; and “Combat bureaucracy, commandism and violations of the law and of discipline,” in Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Vol. 5, p. 86.

24 “Lectures,” in Cohen, The Criminal Process, pp. 538, 535.

25 Beijing ribao (Beijing Daily), 19 July 1981 translated in FBIS-CHI, 29 July 1981, p. R2.

26 “Crime and Justice,” China Reconstructs, August 1984, p. 39.

27 The actual method of execution stipulated by the Criminal Code of 1979 is by shooting (Article 45). Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong), 4 April 1988 translated in Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS-CHI), 12 April 1988, p. 39. On retribution as a justification for the death penalty, see also Davis, “The death penalty,” pp. 327–28.

28 Edwards, R. Randle, “Civil and Social Rights: Theory and Practice in Chinese Law Today,” in Edwards, Henkin, Louis and Nathan, Andrew J., Human Rights in Contemporary China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), p. 54.Google Scholar However, some Chinese jurists have suggested restricting the use of the death penalty. See “Criminal law called to revise,” Beijing Review, 24–30 April 1989, p. 11.

29 See Scobell, “Strung up or shot down?” pp. 165–66.

30 These two codes appear conveniently in both Chinese and English in The Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law of China (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984) (hereafter cited as The Criminal Law). This volume also includes subsequent amendments to both codes.

31 These goals include “fairness and predictability,” “regularized adjudication” and protection against “erroneous judgements.” The scholar concluded that reform of the death penalty-whether it be improved “procedural safeguards,” increased restrictions on its use, or its complete abolition – would be more compatible with the legal climate in post-Mao China. Davis, “The death penalty,” pp. 304–305, 330.

32 For a complete listing of capital crimes as of 1987, see Scobell, “Strung up or shot down?” pp. 150–54.

33 “Decision on the severe punishment of criminal elements who seriously endanger public security,” in The Criminal Law, pp. 241–45.

34 The law apparently applies literally just to the act of making information public – not giving the information to a foreign government – about virtually any sphere of activity in China. See Xinhua, 5 and 6 September 1988, both cited in FBIS-CHI, 6 September 1988, pp. 31–33.

35 Renmin ribao, 9 April 1989, translated in FBIS-CHI, 2 May 1989, p. 84.

36 “Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles,” in Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping (1975–1982) (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984), p. 176.

37 Townsend, Deborah E., “The concept of law in Post-Mao China: A case study of economic crime,” Stanford Journal of International Law, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1987), pp. 239–242.Google Scholar The prevalence of vague wording in China's penal code generally is a major criticism of western legal scholars. See, for example, Leng, Shao-Chuan and Chiu, Hungdah, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China: Analysis and Documents (Albany: State University of New York, 1985), p. 130.Google Scholar

38 See “Act of the PRC for punishment of corruption,” promulgated in April 1952, translated in Cohen, The Criminal Process, pp. 308–311; “Decision of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council on dealing blows at serious criminal activities in the economic field,” translated in FBIS-CHI, 14 April 1982, pp. K1–K9; and Hong Kong Standard (Hong Kong), 6 October 1986, p. 8. I am indebted to Professor Shao-chuan Leng of the University of Virginia for bringing this last article to my attention.

39 “Act of the PRC for Punishment of Corruption,” in Cohen, The Criminal Process, pp. 308–311.

40 “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress regarding the severe punishment of criminals who seriously undermine the economy,” cited in The Criminal Law, pp. 229–240.

41 Renmin ribao, 10 March 1982, translated in Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, p. 57.

42 “Combat economic crime,” in Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, p. 381.

43 Xinhua, 21 January 1988, in FBIS-CHI, 22 January 1988, p. 9.

44 “Supplementary regulations on punishment for crimes of corruption and bribery,” translated in FBIS-CHI, 2 February 1988, pp. 14–16.

45 “Provisional regulations of the PRC on punishing servicemen who commit offenses against their duties,” passed by the Standing Committee of the NPC in June 1981, translated in Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, p. 57.

46 Copper, John F., Michael, Franz and Wu, Yuan-Li, Human Rights inxs Post-Mao China (Boulder: Westview Press, 1985), p. 109Google Scholar and p. Ill, Table 5.

47 “Provisional Act on Lawyers of the People's Republic of China” passed by the Standing Committee of the Fifth NPC in August 1980, translated in Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 272.

48 Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 95.

49 Xinhua, 24 June 1989, cited in FBIS-CHI, 26 June 1989, p. 44. One defendant reportedly escaped execution because his lawyer successfully argued that his client was mentally retarded. See Amnesty International, Preliminary Findings on Killings of Unarmed Civilians, Arbitrary Arrests and Summary Executions since June 3, 1989 (New York: Amnesty International Publications, August 1989), p. 45.

50 Woo, Margaret Y.K., “The right to a criminal appeal in the People's Republic of China,” Yale Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1989), pp. 134–36Google Scholar, and note 126.

51 Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, pp. 66–67.

52 Cited in Margaret Woo, “The Right to a Criminal Appeal,” p. 138.

53 Article 80 cited in Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress, November-December 1982 (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1983), p. 41.

54 Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, p. 71.

55 “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress regarding the procedure for rapidly adjudicating cases involving criminal elements who seriously endanger public security,” cited in The Criminal Law, pp. 246–47.

56 “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress regarding the question of approval of cases involving death sentences,” in The Criminal Law, pp. 217–19.

57 Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, pp. 109–113, see in particular Table 6.

58 See Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, p. 69.

59 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 28 May 1986, p. 10.

60 Davis, , “The death penalty,” p. 319; Leng and Chiu, The Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 137; Radio October Storm (clandestine broadcast), 12 January 1984, cited in FBIS-CHI, 20 January 1984, pp. K18–K19.Google Scholar

61 Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, p. 61.

62 For an eyewitness account, see South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 19 July 1987, p. 9. This humiliation of the condemned is also noted by Amnesty International. See Amnesty International Report 1987 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), pp. 227–28.

63 For examples, see Washington Post, 21 January 1984, pp. A1, A20;South China Morning Post, 19 July 1987, p. 9; and Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, pp. 73–74. The executions of three Shanghai men in June 1989 were also reportedly carried out in public. See New York Times 22 June 1989, pp. Al, A10.

64 See, for example, Bodde and Morris, Law in Imperial China, p. 138.

65 Scobell, “Strung up or shot down?” p. 159. The warden of the Shanghai Municipal Prison told a group of visiting American legal scholars in 1981 that no prisoners in the institution with suspended death sentences had ever been executed. See Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 157, note 23. This was apparently the case in Mao's day and, interestingly, also true during the Qing dynasty. See a 1959 statement by Minister of Public Security Luo Ruiqing, and Edgar Snow, The Other Side of the River, both excerpted in Cohen, The Criminal Process, p. 539. On the Qing dynasty, see Bodde and Morris, Law in Imperial China, p. 138. For a discussion of the significance of the suspended death sentence, see Renmin ribao, 4 January 1980, translated in FBIS-CHI, 21 June 1980, pp. L11–LI2.

66 See “Notes from the editors: On capital punishment,” Beijing Review, 7 November 1983, p. 4; Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 132; Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, pp. 64–65. The suspended or deferred death sentence was also widely used in Qing China. See Bodde and Morris, Law in Imperial China, p. 138 and Wang Hui-tsu, “Seek to preserve life,” cited in Van Der Sprenkel, Legal Institutions in Manchu China, p. 140.

67 Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 132.

68 A Great Trial in Chinese History: The Trial of the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing Counter-revolutionary Cliques, Nov. 1980–Jan. 1981 (Beijing: New World Press, 1981), pp. 205–219, quotation on p. 219.

69 Ibid. p. 233.

70 Work report given in June 1983 by SPC President Jiang Hua and cited in FBIS-CHI, 27 June 1983, pp. K2–K3.

71 The government merely lumps condemned criminals together with all criminals sentenced to five or more years in prison. For discussion on this matter, see Townsend, “The concept of law in Post-Mao China,” pp. 248–49.

72 This estimate is derived from figures obtained from the following sources. See SPC work report, which gives the number of death sentencesxs appealed to the court over a five year period, cited by Xinhua and translated in FBIS-CHI, 27 June 1983, p. K7. The U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1986, joint committee print, report submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives, 100th Congress, 1st session (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987), p. 684.

73 Ibid. (The first figure is from the SPC work report and the others are from the U.S. Department of State.)

74 Amnesty International, When the State Kills, pp. 122–23.

75 Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, pp. 54–55.

76 On these rumours, see Ming Pao (Hong Kong), 15 June 1989 translated in FBIS-CHI, 15 June 1989, p. 16; New York Times 17 July 1989, p. A3; and Amnesty International, Preliminary Findings, p. 46.

77 For a definition of “extrajudicial execution,” see Amnesty International, Preliminary Findings, p. 7.

78 Wen Hui Po (Hong Kong), 28 June 1989, translated in FBIS-CHI, 28 June 1989, pp. 11–12.

79 Typical are two workers and an unemployed man who were convicted of setting nine railway carriages aflame and preventing firemen from battling the blaze on 6 June 1989 in Shanghai. New York Times, 22 June 1989, pp. A1, A10. Most convicted of violent acts have been given prison terms. Of 27 people found guilty of rioting and looting in Changsha, Hunan Province on 22 April 1989, for example, all but one were sentenced to prison terms. The exception was a worker given a suspended death sentence for attacking a policeman. See Hunan provincial service, 22 June 1989, translated in FBIS-CHI, 23 June 1989, p. 28.

80 Zhou Enlai told Edgar Snow that 830,000 people were “destroyed” in the year up until 1954. See Snow, The Other Side of the River, excerpted in Cohen, The Criminal Process, pp. 543–44. According to an unofficial version of Mao's 1957 speech “Problems relating to the correct handling of contradictions among the people,” some 700,000 “class enemies were executed.” See Macfarquhar, Roderick, Timothy, Cheek and Eugene, Wu (eds.), The Secret Speeches of Chairman Mao: From the Hundred Flowers to the Great Leap Forward (Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University Press, 1989), p. 142.Google Scholar

81 Harry Harding estimates that 500,000 persons died during the Cultural Revolution. See his “The Chinese State in Crisis,” in Roderick MacFarquhar and John K. Fairbank (eds.), The Cambridge History of Modern China, Vol. 15: Revolutions within the Chinese Revolution, 1966–1979 (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).

82 See Leng, Shao-Chuan, Justice in Communist China: A Survey of the Judicial System of the Chinese People's Republic (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1967), pp. 166–167Google Scholar; and Davis, “The death penalty,” p. 310, especially Note 41.

83 These recent findings support similar conclusions reached in earlier studies that lacked the wealth of statistical data. See Li Zhongqing, Yan Xiaojian and Zhang Meizhi, “New sources on violence and capital punishment in late imperial China: An introduction and preliminary analysis” (a paper presented to the China Colloquium, at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies of the University of Washington in Seattle on 11 May 1989), pp. 13, 14, Table 7. For some earlier assessments, see Bodde and Morris, Law in Imperial China, pp. 141–42; and Wang Hui-tsu, “Seek to preserve life,” in Van Der Sprenkel, Legal Institutions in Manchu China, p. 140.

84 Michael, Franz, “The Role of Law in Traditional, Nationalist and Communist China,” China Quarterly, No. 9 (1962), p. 134.Google Scholar

85 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1985, joint committee print 99th Congress, 2nd session (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986), p. 738.

86 “Anti-crime drive brings results,” Beijing Review, 18–24 April 1988, p. 11.

87 Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 137.

88 “Recent wave of executions in Red China,” Inside China Mainland, (November 1983), pp. 11–14.

89 Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 146.

90 Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, Appendix, Table 8 on p. 115.

91 “Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles,” Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, p. 176.

92 Agence France Presse (Hong Kong), 9 November 1986, cited in FBIS-CHI, 10 November 1986, p. K1. Of course, given China's large population, this amounts to some 20 million “counter-revolutionaries.”

93 Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, Appendix, Tables 1 and 2 on pp. 106–107. The President of the SPC claimed political offences constitute less than 1% of total crime. See FBIS-CHI, 27 June 1983, p. K3.

94 Ibid.

95 Ibid., Table 8, p. 115; and “Recent wave of executions in Red China,” pp. 11–14.

96 Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, Table 4, p. 110.

97 Renmin ribao, 9 April 1989, translated in FBIS-CHI, 2 May 1989, p. 75. Presumably the figure includes some death sentences suspended for two years.

98 Deng Xiaoping, “Talk at a meeting,” p. 138; and Deng Xiaoping, “Combat economic crime,” p. 380.

99 While Party members make up less than 4% of the total population, they account for as much as 30% of criminal cases. See Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, p. 117; and Appendix, Table 8, pp. 115–16.

100 Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong), 4 April 1988 translated in FBIS— CHI, 12 April 1988, p. 39.

101 Quoted in South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 1 May 1988; cited in FBIS-CHI, 4 May 1988, pp. 34–35.

102 “Regarding the severe punishment of those criminals who seriously undermine the economy,” The Criminal Law, pp. 230, 234–35.

103 The racket was also extensive and involved numerous organizations on Hainan – including kindergartens and medical clinics. See Zhongguo tongxunshi (China Newsservice), 28 May 1986, translated in FBIS-CHI, 30 May 1986, p. W7; and Harding, Harry, China's Second Revolution: Reform After Mao (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1987), p. 150.Google Scholar

104 If suspended death sentences are included, the percentage of CCP members remains almost the same (3.8%–9 of 235). See Copper, Michael and Wu, Human Rights in Post-Mao China, Appendix, pp. 113–17 and Table 8 on pp. 115–16.

105 See Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, p. 108; and Hsin Pao (Hong Kong), 30 November 1983, translated in FBIS-CHI, 1 December 1983, pp. W3–W4.

106 Leng and Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China, pp. 141–42; and Amnesty International, China: Violations of Human Rights, pp. 59–61.

107 “Crackdown on crime stressed,” Beijing Review, 8–14 August 1988, pp. 6–7. See also “Young delinquents cause concern,” ibid., 11 May 1988, pp. 8–9.

108 “Taibao Luo Peiliang Taiyuan zaoyu jishi” (“The true account of Taiwan compatriot Luo Peiliang's Taiyuan encounter”), Renmin ribao-haiwaiban (People's Daily - overseas edition), 11 December 1987, p. 4.

109 Public notice of execution in Kunming, Yunnan Province, October 1983. These notices are important sources of information about executions. They give details of the defendant and his or her crime. A large scarlet slash across the notice indicates that the defendant has been executed. See Far Eastern Economic Review, 16 February 1984, pp. 13–14.

110 Amnesty International Report 1986, pp. 218–19.

111 Amnesty International Report 1988 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988), p. 156.

112 For claims of a drop in crime see: Agence France Presse (Hong Kong), 9 November 1986, in FBIS-CHI, 10 November 1986, pp. K1–K2; Davis, “Death penalty and legal reform,” p. 325, note 140. For a less optimistic assessment, see the report of the President of the SPC in Xinhua, 2 April 1988, translated in FBIS-CHI, 4 April 1988, p. 17.

113 “Crackdown on crime stressed,” Beijing Review, 8–14 August 1988, pp. 6–7.

114 Amnesty International, When the State Kills, Appendices 15 and 16, pp. 259–263.

115 Ibid., Appendix 16, pp. 263, and relevant country reports. On the USSR, see Amnesty International 1989 (New York: Amnesty International Publications, 1989), pp. 238–39.

116 Stalin's purges of the 1930s in the Soviet Union, however, resulted in an even greater death toll. One scholar has estimated that at least 500,000 “legal” executions occurred during Stalin's rule and at least an equal number are believed to have been shot after being sent to labour camps. See Conquest, Robert, The Great Terror: Stalin's Purges of the Thirties (New York: Macmillan, 1968)Google Scholar, Appendix A, pp. 527–29.

117 Amnesty International has recorded hundreds of legal executions in both countries during the 1980s. Amnesty International, When the State Kills, Appendix 17, p. 263 and country sections.