First, Capital punishment has not been outlawed by sovereign countries. China is a sovereign country, and the law has existed. The capital punishment for the poor guy is not inappropriate.
Second, human rights. The capital punishment is a necessary evil, because it does deter most people from committing heinous crimes, and does satisfy our instinctive urge to seek revenge. Put yourself in the shoes of the guy. I was 53-year-old and lived a miserable life. I would be more than happy to take the risk. If I made it, my family and I might become rich, or at least well-off. If I failed, a Chinese prison for foreigners or a British prison cell may not be worse than a crappy apartment in Poland. Supposed my parents and children were murdered, I would be very disappointed that the murder would not be killed. If you are so high-minded as to pardon the murder who killed your family, I admire you. But why should I, a tax payer, pay for life imprisonment of a murderer? How about capital punishment for crimes that are not related to killings? Some crimes are even worse than killings. I think that Madoff caused more damage than a young man who killed his lover. If I lost my saving and pension with Madoff, I would support the capital punishment. How about innocent victims? There have been some. But I guess that the number is extremely low. Do not forget the number of capital punishment in this world of 6 billion is extreeeeeemly low in the first place. Living in this world, we should prepare for bad luck and cruel reality.
Third, the European view. I respect European’s view of capital punishment. But I am sorry that I am not as civilized as they are, and feel no shame about it. The Europeans caused so many deaths, even to themselves, in the past 500 years, especially in the first half of the 20the century. Now they became civilized, and I hope that they will remain so. If global warming made Europe a hot place, people might lack appetite for meat. It is not unthinkable that those self-righteous and self-serving people would ban the slaughter of animals and call all beefeaters uncivilized.
Fourth, British reactions. Most British, based on their comments on the BBC, had no problems with the prosecution. Some say that respect for other country’s law is necessary, and others even wish to reinstate capital punishment. So most Brits are reasonable. The British government tried to prevent the execution, which was understandable and even commendable. But they can do it in a better way. There is a difference between making requests and making demands. Gordon Brown was appalled, which was not genuine. I doubt that even a timid schoolgirl would not have been appalled by hearing this, since nothing indicated that that guy would have been spared. If London tried to make a secret deal before the death and expressed regret after it, nobody would blame them. A false consternation and a strong condemnation in the name of human rights do not impress me. The other day, the same Brown was appalled again by a radical Islamic group’s plan to stage a protest against the war in Afghanistan. If I remember correctly, he wanted to ban the march. I did not like the group, but thought that a ban would not honor Britain’s traditions and principles. This great country tolerated Marx, who sat in the British Museum to criticize capitalism. Brits seem to subscribe to Kant’s view of morality, which implies no humans should be used as a mean to achieve an end, but they forget their two great thinkers –Malthus and Bentham. If you think that these two make some sense, you might think about another moral view that capitals punishment represents the greatest happiness of the greatest number in this overcrowded world. I know Brits lost its naval power a while ago, but since when have they lost their mental power and cool manners?
It was said that the British textbooks in high schools barely mentioned the Opium War, for good reasons, I guess. The Chinese have highlighted this, also for good reasons. Are there similarities between the opium war and the current execution? There are. Groups of British merchants smuggled opium to China. The stone killed two birds: it drained Chinese wealth and damaged Chinese health. After the Chinese enforced its law, the British used war to punish the uncivilized Chinese. This time, a guy carrying heroin into China is redolent of those smugglers. The British made demands to stop uncivilized execution. The differences are that the crime was an isolated and small episode, and the British government did not threaten wars.
All these should not imply that the Chinese government and people are doing good. To criticizing Beijing from outside of China is like flogging a dead horse or tilting at a windmill, but let me offer some criticism of some Chinese people. You got addicted to opium more than 150 years ago. Nobody forced you to do that, but you did and suffered. Nowadays, many Chinese still enjoy smoking and a tiny group use drugs. Again, nobody forced you to do that. Do not blame others, but blame yourself.
The BBC reported this morning that China is trying to ban spiting in public. If people do not line up but spit in public, I have no problem calling this country uncivilized, because such behavior does not serve anybody’s interests. Absolutely foolish and unethical! I should not contradict myself by adopting a double standard here. If most Chinese enjoyed spitting and hated to line up, does it amount to the greatest happiness of the great number? Maybe. But personally, I think that democracy should not apply here, and I would applaud any regime, which would do something in this regard.
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