is the law in china too harsh?

Question

a top official in china was hanged for corruption last 3 days

Answer 1

consider what he did, he was approving fake meds, how many lives were lost b/c of that? All for the love of money, maybe if penalties were more severe people would think twice about commiting them, I think once you committ a crime that takes away another person's life you have given up your right to live, I know it sounds harsh but the law is much too soft and criminals live nice lives in jail when people are suffering and dead b/c of them

Answer 2

Many people believe so. the death penalty is handed out on a regular basis and the court system is pretty inflexible. But... It is pretty much in line with other Asian countries.

Looking at China’s criminal justice system through Western eyes, it is easy to see only its deficiencies. The system is marked by long periods of investigatory detention, a high rate of confessions, and administrative penalties that are tantamount to incarceration without trial. Criminal suspects have no right to refuse interrogation, enjoy no presumption of innocence, and have no right to confront their accusers
or compel the presence of witnesses to testify in their defense. The right to counsel is extremely limited in the investigatory phase of a case and, although there is a right to counsel at trial, that right is circumscribed by the absence of pre-trial discovery and the limited ability of the defense to
conduct its own investigation.

While these are major deficiencies in the system, it should also be noted that China's current criminal justice system is only 20 years old and, during that relatively brief period, it has already undergone major reforms. In 1997, for example, reforms eliminated the practice of prosecution by analogy, by which a person could be charged with a crime if their conduct was analogous to other conduct specifically prohibited, even if the offense in question was not delineated in the criminal code. The 1997 reforms also abolished "shelter and
investigation," whereby police could hold a suspect indefinitely while investigating the person's true identity. More certain time limits were also placed on the various forms of detention known as "compulsory detention.