China switches to lethal injection

Magrath

China switches to lethal injection
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1 e  _$ n- n& N9 H+ P1 dDavid Stanway in Beijing
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China's executioners are planning to increase the use of lethal injections in order to make executions "more humane", a senior court official told the state media yesterday.
1 L) o0 W1 ^5 [& F( ^$ SJiang Xingchang, vice-president of the supreme court, told the China Daily that lethal injections would eventually be used in all intermediate people's courts, instead of relying on firing squads. Lethal injections have already been used throughout China, particularly in high-profile cases such as the execution of gangsters and corrupt government officials.
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Human Rights Watch in China said that there were 1,770 known executions carried out in China in 2005, more than 80% of the worldwide total of 2,148. A parliamentary delegate has said that the figure could be as high as 10,000.
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. B; {. U" K1 G9 XHuman rights groups claim China has executed minors, and local governments have been accused of harvesting organs of criminals.
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China has made heavy use of the death penalty in a crackdown against separatists and has sought to make the ultimate example of corrupt senior government officials.

Last year, the director of the state food and drug administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was sentenced to death for "economic crimes". Many are speculating that the former party boss of Shanghai, Chen Liangyu, now under investigation for embezzling billions from the city's social security funds, could be the next.
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