Essay On Clemency In China

Contrary to what the media may have one believe about the Chinese criminal justice system’s high rate of executions, it does have a system for pardoning or granting clemency to people that run afoul of its laws. According to the Dui Hua Foundation China has a “system of sentence reduction and parole” where courts can reward convicts that “admit their guilt” of behave while in detention. Accordingly, the issue is not if China grants clemency but rather who can receive a pardon. To be sure, the granting of pardons in China seems to be influenced by political priorities.
If you are convicted of a drug crime, the chances to be pardoned appear nonexistent, as illustrated in the recent case of two South Korean citizens who were executed for smuggling drugs into China. Under China’s criminal code, the possession, smuggling or trading of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine (meth) is subject to a death sentence. In 2011, the two were arrested in northeastern province of Jilin for smuggling 14.8 kilograms of meth from North Korea and selling 12.3 grams of it. They were found guilty and sentenced to death by the Baishan City district court. In 2013, the case was appealed to the Jilin Provincial Appellate Court, who confirmed the district court’s ruling. As required under Chinese law for all death penalty sentences, the case was reviewed by China’s highest court, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC). In March 2014, the SPC confirmed the appellate court’s decision. Once the South Korean government was notified of the decision in July 2014, it immediately requested the executions be stayed and the two granted clemency. According to news reports, the South Korean plea for clemency was based on “humanitarian considerations” and made through “various levels of channels” (Shankar). China rejected South Korean pleas for clemency with a statement that China applies the law equally to both foreign and domestic drug smugglers (Shankar). As mentioned, for drug crime death penalty case, the clemency process is clear and open. It involves review of the sentence by at least on appellate court and final review by the SPC. Additional pleas can be made at any time during the process of review and the final decision of whether or not to grant a pardon is made by the SPC.
On the other hand, if you are convicted of a range of crimes such as espionage, that normally are strictly punished in the U.S., or crimes, political crimes such as “endangering state security,” that is generally observed to command strict sentences by Chinese courts, you have a better chance of getting pardoned than if you were a drug dealer. For example, in 2004, Chinese journalist Shi Tao was arrested and later convicted of disclosing state secrets when Yahoo! released information showing that he was the anonymous sender of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) private circular sent to party members detailing news restriction concerning the commemoration of the June 1989 protests in Beijing (King). After a trial and conviction, Shi was sentenced to ten years of incarceration. Shi’s sentence was immediately protested by a number of human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights watch and Reporters without Borders. The groups appealed to the Chinese government to show leniency and grant his immediate and unconditional release on the grounds that the information he revealed was unimportant and that he was simply exercising his right to freely express himself as required by his profession (King). In August 2013, Shi Tao was inexplicably released from detention with nearly two years remaining on his sentence. No exact explanation was given by the Chinese government for the pardon and no details of the decision-making process were revealed. However, the manner the decision was made reflects a pattern in the Chinese criminal justice system of abruptly pardoning and releasing political prisoners without explanation (Dui Hua).

Works Cited

“China Grants Clemency to Labor Leader, Journalist.” Dui Hua Foundation. The Dui Hua Foundation, 19 Nov. 2004. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.
King, Jessica. “Chinese journalist Shi Tao released after 8 years in prison.” CNN. CNN.com, 08 Sep. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.
Shankar, Sneha. “China Executes Two South Korean Drug Dealers Ignoring Seoul’s Clemency Pleas.” IBTimes. International Business Times, 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.