China’s highest court vows to defend ‘national political security’ as a top priority
China’s top court is determined to “maintain national political security” and will go the extra mile to crack down on activities that undermine the country’s sovereignty, the court’s president told a “two sessions” meeting on Monday.
Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People’s Court, said any activities deemed to pose a danger to China’s national security will be severely punished. These include infiltration, sabotage, subversion and separatist activities both at home and abroad, said Zhou, in a presentation of the court’s work report. Fighting other crimes, including episonage and cult activity, is also high on the agenda, he said.
Zhou claimed that punishing criminals is as important as protecting human rights. A set of judicial interpretations of the Criminal Procedure Law has been formulated, he said. The court will follow them in detail while protecting people’s rights, ensuring that the innocent are not prosecuted, and punishing wrongdoers according to the law.
The report noted that among the cases the court handled last year, 24,000 involved Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, where 11,000 cases involved legal assistance.
Fighting corruption was one of the court’s key tasks last year, Zhou said. Of the 22,000 cases of corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty, a total of 26,000 offenders were sentenced.
They include 12 defendants who were former cadres at middle-management level, the execution of top banker Lai Xiaomin, the former chair of China Huarong Asset Management, and Zhao Zhengyong, the former secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, who was given a two-year suspended death sentence last year.
The court confiscated the assets of those who were found guilty in 316 cases, including one case involving 164 criminals for a total of 1.15 billion yuan (US$176.3 million).
Zhang Jun, the chief prosecutor of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, noted that Weibo user “Spicy Pen Xiaoqiu,” whose real name is Qiu Ziming, was charged with slandering and degrading the nation’s heroes and its honor, because he questioned the number of casualties in the Indian-China border clash last June. His arrest is the first time that charge has been used, after coming into effect this month through a legal amendment, Zhang said.
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