Two Thirds of the World’s Executions Occur in China.

2 Mar

Yep, don’t mess around in China or you’re proper in for it! In 2007, China executed 470 people for all kinds of crimes with 2nd placed Iran coming in at only 317. Those numbers sound pretty scary right? Actually although there are 68 different crimes which are punishable by death, you’ve got to be pretty damn naughty to get put down by the Chinese government.

What the Fact?

China executes 2 for selling tainted milk

In most cases, the death penalty is only considered for the worst crimes like aggravated murder or large scale drug trafficking but there are some less obvious crimes made the list. Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping, for example, were executed last November for producing and selling powdered milk contaminated with melamine which killed 6 children and caused over 300,000 to fall seriously ill. Just goes to show you can’t pull any ‘Delboy & Rodney‘ inspired schemes when you’re in China!

Other crimes which commonly attract the death penalty include things like corruption, theft, smuggling gold and other precious metals, stealing cultural relics and,…wait for it,.. killing pandas! Go pandas!

Does it Work?

On one hand, with any execution there’s the chance of falsely executing an innocent man but some crimes truly do deserve the death penalty don’t they? Killing pandas for sure right? What crimes do you think should be punishable by death?