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China’s biggest cash seizure to date saw the authorities uncover a staggering amount of money hidden in the home of a senior energy official on October 31. Investigators said there were so many currency notes that they caused four of the 16 machines used to count the money to malfunction. The haul totaled more than 200 million yuan （$32.7 million）.
Wei Pengyuan， former Deputy Director of National Development and Reform Commission’s Coal Industry Department， was charged with taking bribes， marking another step in the government’s ramped-up efforts in recent years to root out corruption.
Wei is currently awaiting trial. Many people feel that those who offered the bribes should have their identities revealed and be severely punished.
“Bribers make huge profits by paying government officials. But since China’s current Criminal Law prescribes very little punishment for them， they get away lightly despite making a hefty profit，” said Zhang Baojun， partner at Beijing Kangda Law Firm.
According to the law， bribers’ punishment can be mitigated or they can even be exempted under many circumstances. Zhang said the punishment for bribing is inadequate. Giving and taking bribes are two sides of the same coin， making it a symbiotic relationship. Therefore the current crackdown on corrupt officials should be complemented with increased punishment for people who pay bribes.
Equal punishment needed
China is making progress in this regard. The 11th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress （held from October 27 to November 1） reviewed the amendment to the Criminal Law， and is now soliciting public opinion on it. This is the ninth amendment after the law was modified comprehensively in 1997. It came just after the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） where the ruling Party vowed to strengthen China’s rule of law. A highlight of the amendment is tougher punishment for people who offer bribes.
After the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012， the ruling Party has been intensifying its efforts to fight corruption. By the end of this October， more than 50 minister-level or higher officials have either been indicted or placed under investigation for abuse of power. According to media reports， of the 28 bribers involved in the cases of six senior officials- such as Bo Xilai， Liu Tienan and Liu Zhijun - only four were punished and just one was charged. “People hate bribe givers but usually think they are forced to do it as they are in a disadvantageous position，” said Wang Quanming， Deputy Director of Zhejiang Brighteous Law Firm.“Actually， that’s not the case. They offer bribes because they can profit much more than the money they offer.”
GlaxoSmithKline China is an example. This September， the multinational healthcare company was found guilty of offering bribes to doctors to persuade the latter to prescribe their drugs. The massive bribery network they ran in China greatly increased medicine prices.
“I am glad to see that in the new amendment draft， the punishment for bribe givers has been greatly enhanced，” said Wang. The current version of the law says， “Any bribe giver， who before he is investigated for criminal responsibility voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes， may be given a mitigated punishment or exempted from punishment.” But the new amendment raises the threshold of mitigation or exemption from punishment. Only the bribers who play a key role in cracking important cases can be exempted from punishment.
“The change can be a deterrent for potential bribe givers. Only by cracking down equally on both bribe givers and takers can China progress in its fight against corruption，” said Wang.
Circumstances considered
The new amendment makes other changes in dealing with bribe takers. The current law decides the punishment subject to the amount of bribe paid. A person who accepts 5，000 yuan （$818） as a bribe gets one year’s imprisonment or more； taking more than 100，000 yuan（$16，000） can fetch one 10 years’ imprisonment or a life term.
Experts point out that the figures， laid down 17 years ago， are outdated. With many corruption cases involving hundreds of millions of yuan， these standards are now inadequate.
The new amendment has categorized three levels of bribery to pronounce an appropriate sentence， “relatively large amount or relatively serious circumstance，”“huge amount or grave circumstances，” and “specially huge amount or specially grave circumstance.”
Li Shishi， Chairman of Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， said， “The amount of money involved in corruption cases is only one part that should be considered in the court judgment； its social influence is a more important factor.”
Zheng Xiaoyu， China’s former head of State Food and Drug Administration， is an example. He took 6 million yuan （$982，000） as a bribe and was sentenced to death while other officials who illegally took hundreds of millions of yuan did not face the death penalty. The reason is that Zheng failed to enforce drug standards because of his corrupt activities， leading to the circulation of low-quality and fake drugs in the market. “What he did greatly harmed the whole society. [People like him] should be severely punished，” said Li.
Reducing death penalty
The Criminal Law amendment draft has reduced the crimes marked for capital punishment from 55 to 46. The crimes that will now get a lighter punishment are related to weapons and ammunition smuggling， smuggling nuclear materials， counterfeiting fake banknotes， smuggling fake banknotes， raising funds fraudulently， organizing forced prostitution， obstruction of military duties and rumormongering during war.
“In the amendment， economic and non-violent crimes are no longer subject to capital punishment； it is a world trend not to give the death penalty for such crimes，” said Huang Jingping， professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China. This is not the first time that China’s judicial authorities have cut the number of capital crimes. In the eighth amendment to the Criminal Law in 2011， the number of crimes subject to capital punishment was reduced from 68 to 55.
“The reduction of crimes subject to capital punishment in 2011 did not exert negative influences on public security and society had positive responses to the reduction，” said Li.
According to a white paper issued in 2012， Judicial Reform in China， China retains the death penalty， but strictly controls it and applies it prudently. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013 also called to gradually reduce the number of crimes slotted for the death penalty.
Now capital punishment is given only to criminals who have committed extremely serious crimes， and the application is governed by very strict stipulations.
“The punishment must fit the crime，” said Ruan Qilin， professor of China University of Political Science and Law.
Wei Pengyuan， former Deputy Director of National Development and Reform Commission’s Coal Industry Department， was charged with taking bribes， marking another step in the government’s ramped-up efforts in recent years to root out corruption.
Wei is currently awaiting trial. Many people feel that those who offered the bribes should have their identities revealed and be severely punished.
“Bribers make huge profits by paying government officials. But since China’s current Criminal Law prescribes very little punishment for them， they get away lightly despite making a hefty profit，” said Zhang Baojun， partner at Beijing Kangda Law Firm.
According to the law， bribers’ punishment can be mitigated or they can even be exempted under many circumstances. Zhang said the punishment for bribing is inadequate. Giving and taking bribes are two sides of the same coin， making it a symbiotic relationship. Therefore the current crackdown on corrupt officials should be complemented with increased punishment for people who pay bribes.
Equal punishment needed
China is making progress in this regard. The 11th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress （held from October 27 to November 1） reviewed the amendment to the Criminal Law， and is now soliciting public opinion on it. This is the ninth amendment after the law was modified comprehensively in 1997. It came just after the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） where the ruling Party vowed to strengthen China’s rule of law. A highlight of the amendment is tougher punishment for people who offer bribes.
After the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012， the ruling Party has been intensifying its efforts to fight corruption. By the end of this October， more than 50 minister-level or higher officials have either been indicted or placed under investigation for abuse of power. According to media reports， of the 28 bribers involved in the cases of six senior officials- such as Bo Xilai， Liu Tienan and Liu Zhijun - only four were punished and just one was charged. “People hate bribe givers but usually think they are forced to do it as they are in a disadvantageous position，” said Wang Quanming， Deputy Director of Zhejiang Brighteous Law Firm.“Actually， that’s not the case. They offer bribes because they can profit much more than the money they offer.”
GlaxoSmithKline China is an example. This September， the multinational healthcare company was found guilty of offering bribes to doctors to persuade the latter to prescribe their drugs. The massive bribery network they ran in China greatly increased medicine prices.
“I am glad to see that in the new amendment draft， the punishment for bribe givers has been greatly enhanced，” said Wang. The current version of the law says， “Any bribe giver， who before he is investigated for criminal responsibility voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes， may be given a mitigated punishment or exempted from punishment.” But the new amendment raises the threshold of mitigation or exemption from punishment. Only the bribers who play a key role in cracking important cases can be exempted from punishment.
“The change can be a deterrent for potential bribe givers. Only by cracking down equally on both bribe givers and takers can China progress in its fight against corruption，” said Wang.
Circumstances considered
The new amendment makes other changes in dealing with bribe takers. The current law decides the punishment subject to the amount of bribe paid. A person who accepts 5，000 yuan （$818） as a bribe gets one year’s imprisonment or more； taking more than 100，000 yuan（$16，000） can fetch one 10 years’ imprisonment or a life term.
Experts point out that the figures， laid down 17 years ago， are outdated. With many corruption cases involving hundreds of millions of yuan， these standards are now inadequate.
The new amendment has categorized three levels of bribery to pronounce an appropriate sentence， “relatively large amount or relatively serious circumstance，”“huge amount or grave circumstances，” and “specially huge amount or specially grave circumstance.”
Li Shishi， Chairman of Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， said， “The amount of money involved in corruption cases is only one part that should be considered in the court judgment； its social influence is a more important factor.”
Zheng Xiaoyu， China’s former head of State Food and Drug Administration， is an example. He took 6 million yuan （$982，000） as a bribe and was sentenced to death while other officials who illegally took hundreds of millions of yuan did not face the death penalty. The reason is that Zheng failed to enforce drug standards because of his corrupt activities， leading to the circulation of low-quality and fake drugs in the market. “What he did greatly harmed the whole society. [People like him] should be severely punished，” said Li.
Reducing death penalty
The Criminal Law amendment draft has reduced the crimes marked for capital punishment from 55 to 46. The crimes that will now get a lighter punishment are related to weapons and ammunition smuggling， smuggling nuclear materials， counterfeiting fake banknotes， smuggling fake banknotes， raising funds fraudulently， organizing forced prostitution， obstruction of military duties and rumormongering during war.
“In the amendment， economic and non-violent crimes are no longer subject to capital punishment； it is a world trend not to give the death penalty for such crimes，” said Huang Jingping， professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China. This is not the first time that China’s judicial authorities have cut the number of capital crimes. In the eighth amendment to the Criminal Law in 2011， the number of crimes subject to capital punishment was reduced from 68 to 55.
“The reduction of crimes subject to capital punishment in 2011 did not exert negative influences on public security and society had positive responses to the reduction，” said Li.
According to a white paper issued in 2012， Judicial Reform in China， China retains the death penalty， but strictly controls it and applies it prudently. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013 also called to gradually reduce the number of crimes slotted for the death penalty.
Now capital punishment is given only to criminals who have committed extremely serious crimes， and the application is governed by very strict stipulations.
“The punishment must fit the crime，” said Ruan Qilin， professor of China University of Political Science and Law.