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China executes Japanese man for drug offenses

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Welcome to the BIG Time :

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Hmmm, I guess not that high of a level of interest....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well - China is not the only country that penalizes drug smuggling with the death penalty . .. . .

5 ( +8 / -3 )

......China is a major global player SemperFi. One would think modern society to some degree.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Most of these older guys are recruited by gangs in Japan via gambling and loan sharks. They go to yakuza-run casinos, cock fights or whatever. They lose all their money and the yaks "kindly" front them some credit so they can keep gambling. Then, once they are deep in...voila. A willing drug mule who will risk their life just to get out of a gambling debt that cost their masters nothing.

It's a nasty business, and these guys being executed are mostly victims.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

a Japanese embassy official in Beijing, who declined to be named

declined to identify the individual, citing reasons of privacy

Am I missing something here? What's with all the secrecy?

11 ( +13 / -2 )

It's a nasty business, and these guys being executed are mostly victims.

They are mostly stupid. When one gambles away all of one's money, and then borrows more money from gangsters, and loses it as well, then one must expect the consequences to be harsh.

3 ( +11 / -8 )

.....China is a major global player SemperFi. One would think modern society to some degree.

One who has never been to Mainland China where the police do not act professionally, motorists do not obey the simplest form of road codes (giving right to pedestrians at controlled crossings), go through a tedious application process for a tourism visa, all television stations are state owned, the internet is heavily censored..the list goes on.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

It's a nasty business, and these guys being executed are mostly victims.

Victims of their own actions and decisions.

One who has never been to Mainland China where the police do not act professionally, motorists do not obey the simplest form of road codes (giving right to pedestrians at controlled crossings), go through a tedious application process for a tourism visa, all television stations are state owned, the internet is heavily censored..the list goes on.

There is no denying that the big cities in China are quite modern. When you get out in the countryside on the other hand.

Which actually makes it quite like Japan.

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

MarkG ......China is a major global player SemperFi. One would think modern society to some degree

Huh??????.....So is USA - but it still has the death penalty . . . maybe not for drug -related offenses - - But REALLY why is anyone surprised China has an atrocious HUMANS RIGHTS recrord - - - - -This is all part and parcel of it . . . .

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I'm guessing by now that anyone who whimsically say that Chinese cities are anything like Japan's probably never spent more than 3 days in each country at foreigner friendly areas like Jang'an in Shanghai or Ginzai in Tokyo.

I've spent more than 3 days in China this month alone, and I go almost every month. Almost 20 years in Japan. So your guess would be wrong.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He said the case 'was related to drugs', without elaborating, and declined to identify the individual, citing reasons of privacy.

How very considerate.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Barbaric, the death penalty.

-1 ( +8 / -9 )

What is a good penalty for murder? Can a murderer be rehabilitated? I am referring to cold blooded murderer, not a manslaughter death.

US prisons are country clubs. And if you think incarceration is a deterrent your sadly mistaken. I don't necessarily believe in the death penalty but I favor hard labor. Now I know many will disagree but prison time should be a deterrent itself.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

If these Japanese drug smugglers were truly guilty of trying to sneak drugs from China into Japan, then the Chinese probably performed a valuable service for the people of Japan. Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time. Or, in this case, if you can't pay for it with your life, especially when trying to do it in China or throughout several other parts of SE Asia. They're not messin' around.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

"What penalties should be imposed for what crimes is a domestic matter for (China)," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida

Wow. Consular assistance, or lack thereof, is probably something to consider for anyone considering giving up their citizenship to naturalize as a Japanese citizen.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

China has every right to enforce their laws as does every other nation on earth. Let a Chinese person get busted with drugs in Japan and see them get the book thrown at them with not so much as an opportunity to inform their family where they are until the Chinese diplomats are informed. And do not forget Japan also has the death penalty. China makes it very clear they are ZERO tolerant of drug smugglers as does Japan.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

And do not forget Japan also has the death penalty.

Which Japan applies pretty much exclusively to violent murdered and not drug offenders.

I find the liberal use of the death penalty by China (and a lot of other east Asian countries) for non-violent drug offences to be really indefensible. Pretty much all these people are unimportant mules who definitely don`t deserve to die for their crimes.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Oldman_13

Drug addiction and the behavior it leads to can be far more barbaric than a quick death.

One fewer idiots on rhe planet, and it was over in the blink of an eye. I'd say he got off light, and it's for the greater good.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

As I remember this guy was caught trying to take the drugs OUT of the country through Dalian Airport.

They get to arrest the guy, AND keep the very valuable to someone drugs in the country.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It doesn't seem right that governments can just execute foreign nationals with the host country having no say whatsoever

Surely they should be deported back to their homelands and subjected to that criminal justice system

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

When one gambles away all of one's money, and then borrows more money from gangsters, and loses it as well, then one must expect the consequences to be harsh.

Yes. And by the laws of gangsters, you are absolutely correct. The question is, is gangster law something you want to live by?

China can have the most draconian punishments possible, and it will do nothing to deter this sort of crime. These drug mules have no choice in the matter. If there were no gangsters, their gambling addiction would leave them destitute and probably homeless, without friends or family. Thanks to the yakuza who are willing to capitalize on their weaknesses, they end up in a Chinese prison with a Chinese bullet in their head. Who knows? Maybe that's the easy way out. But they have little choice once the yakuza have their claws in them,

Sure they had a choice in the beginning. But the yakuza make sure they have no choices in the end.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

These drug mules have no choice in the matter.

There is always a choice. They can refuse and face the consequences of their actions.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Executed? good.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Funny that when Japan executes a person for multiple murders, a lot of the comments are bashing Japan as being barbaric and cruel. When China does it for non-violent crimes, people say "oh well." Maybe people feel Japan is an easy target for criticism.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Not even the respect his being named?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I agree DudeDeuce, lots of hypocrisy and double standards against Japan, but not towards other countries. Like free speech for example.

BUT, I have been consistent here. I think death penalty is barbaric and have criticized Japan's death penalty every time here on JT, just as I have for other countries death penalties.

I am not a hypocrite, unlike many others when it comes to Japan.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

China needs to enforce a death penalty for drugs since the whole country would sell it if most weren't afraid of dying.

On another note: how would China react if Japan had executed a Chinese citizen in Japan?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Japanese drug smugglers getting executed in China is nothing new.

On another note: how would China react if Japan had executed a Chinese citizen in Japan?

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/07/30/convicted-chinese-murderer-executed-in-japan/

According to the story, on a Chinese news site (blog), not much.

I shed no tears for them, no matter where they're from.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"Drug addiction and the behavior it leads to can be far more barbaric than a quick death"

Or may not be. It depends on person and the reason for drug use. Only 12 percent of drug users end up in bad situations, rest recover, quit and don't ruin anyone's lives. Killing a person for drug muleing is barbaric!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Or may not be. It depends on person and the reason for drug use.

I think you mean the degree of drug use (but other than that, I agree). Any drug used in moderation is not a big deal, and most drug users are able to use them in moderation.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Strangerland, many thanks. You are the only person to make any sense on this topic. Not only that but the death penalty is wrong no matter what the crime. Anyway, the report does not mention any details about the offence. Perhaps it was just a dude with a splif! if it was a personal amount of any drug what harm is it to anyone else? Now does that deserve the death penalty in anyone's eyes?

No matter what the death penalty is primitive and wrong. To use violence, which the death penalty is, means that you do not have the intelligence to win the argument by reason. I feel very strongly about this.. so primitive you death mongers.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

pablo944, I think all five of them were trying to smuggle more than 1 kg of methamphetamine out of China and were caught at Dalian Airport just before boarding. Check here. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E5%B9%B4%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E3%81%AB%E3%81%8A%E3%81%91%E3%82%8B%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E4%BA%BA%E6%AD%BB%E5%88%91%E5%9F%B7%E8%A1%8C%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8C

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Damien15, If "Only 12 percent of drug users end up in bad situations, rest recover, quit and don't ruin anyone's lives", that's still enough reason to ban hard drugs such as meth, right?

China has a history with opium and with the opium trade being forced on them militarily by the British. The mules most likely knew the penalty.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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