“When I arrived at the scene, there were a group of people gathered around the body,” my friend told me. “There was a lot of blood; he had been shot in the head by the police.” My Chinese friend, who was just a little girl when this story happened 25 years ago, told me that the thief had been paraded around town and even made to stand on a platform near her school building to make sure that everyone knew about the crime and understood what was going to happen to the man. Looking back, she tells me, she is glad that she did not arrive in time to witness the execution, but she will never forget the sight of the man laying there in a pool of blood.

Such impromptu executions at the local level may be now very rare in China but the concept behind the death penalty remains the same; paying for a crime with one’s life is the best way to deter other people from committing the same crimes. However, it is not just violent offenders that are punished with death in China. Crimes involving tax fraud and corruption and even drug related charges are eligible for the death penalty in China. Perhaps the most well known death penalty case in China during this decade occurred in 2005 when Zheng Xiaoyu, director of the State Food and Drug Administration was put to death for taking bribes and dereliction of duty. Criminals who continue to backslide may also find themselves facing death for less serious crimes such as theft or fraud.

While China introduced lethal injections in the late 90’s as a method for carrying out the death penalty, my friends and students tell me that most offenders are put to death by a shot to the back of the head from an assault rifle. I have also been told that the families of the offenders are often compelled by the government to purchase the bullet that is used in the gun. While various reasons for this have been put forward by my friends, it is likely that these families must pay for the bullets in order to demonstrate that they understand and accept the reasons for the execution of their loved one.

While there seems to be a ongoing debate in the West as to whether or not the death penalty should be allowed to exist, most Chinese people seem to support the use of capital punishment in their country. For them, modern capital punishment in China is simply a more civilized way of enforcing what has always been an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ mentality in China. People should pay for their crimes, my Chinese friends and students tell me. Most Chinese people seem dislike the idea of leaving a prisoner in jail for life. When I ask my friends about some of the less serious crimes that are also punishable by death they shrug their shoulders. For them, the idea of one less crook or fraudster on the streets of China seems to be quite pleasant.

Many people wonder if the death penalty will be abolished in China in the near future. Do not count on it. With the Chinese government’s renewed pledge to fight corruption in China in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, it is very likely that the CCP will continue to use the death penalty as an important deterrent. In addition, while there has been some criticism from the international community of the Chinese government on its excessive use of capital punishment, it has not been nearly strong enough to cause any major ‘PR’ problems for the Chinese government. And, as I mentioned before, Chinese public opinion seems to be with the CCP on the issue of the death penalty. Almost everyone in China is willing to do what it takes to lower the crime rates in their developing country.