Should Foreigners Be Treated Differently Under Chinese Criminal Law?

Should Foreigners Be Treated Differently Under Chinese Criminal Law?
Mar 24, 2015 By eChinacities.com

Editor's Note: This translated article discusses the recent incident in which a Malaysian man was caught stealing 3 million Yuan worth of Cartier watches in Beijing. The article discusses whether or not foreigners should be punished under Chinese criminal law. A law professor interviewed gives a few reasons why all foreign criminals in China should in fact receive the same treatment as Chinese criminals.

Should foreigners receive special treatment under Chinese criminal law, or should they face the same penalties as Chinese citizens? The recent robbery in Wangfujing by a Malaysian man has recently brought up these questions. How will he be prosecuted, and is it fair to hold foreigners up to different standards than Chinese citizens?

The Foreign Thieves of Wangfujing

There has been more than one high profile case featuring a foreign thief in Wangfujing in recent years. On March 16, a suspect entered the Wangfujing Cartier store at 7 pm and held up the store with a fake plastic gun. The female sales clerk handed over about 3 million Yuan worth of merchandise. The thief then stole a taxi using the fake gun, holding the taxi driver hostage.

The suspect was arrested the next day near Beijing's Jinbao Street and the stolen goods were recovered. The thief only made it two kilometers until he was apprehended by police. The suspect confessed to police that he had stolen the watches because he had been living in poverty. He said that he had purchased a black plastic toy gun in order to rob the store. The thief was identified as 38 year old Malaysian man Moikit Leng.

A different foreign robber made off with stolen goods from Wangfujing five years ago. On August 27, 2010, a foreign man stole a 3 carat diamond ring worth 2.193 million Yuan from the Tiffany store located in Oriental Plaza. Witnesses reported that the man had come to see the ring several times before the theft. The last time he visited the ring, he brought a woman with him to try it on and stealthily substituted it for a fake when the sales clerk was not looking. The case was never closed.

Professor: Foreigners Should be Punished In Accordance with Chinese Law

Ruan Qilin, a professor who teaches criminal justice at China University of Political Science and Law, said that there are three reasons why foreigners should be punished according to Chinese law. The first is that the state law must be upheld in order to maintain the trust of citizens and keep local order. Criminal law is an important part of state law. If a person breaks the law, they must face the local penalties. The second reason stems from the idea of, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” When someone is visiting another nation, they must respect that country's rules of conduct. The third reason is that it is more effective for the suspect to be prosecuted in the country in which the crime was committed. If a crime was committed in China, it is easier for Chinese authorities to conduct the investigation and gather evidence than it is for foreign authorities outside of China.

Ruan said that based on these three reasons, foreigners should be punished according to Chinese law and not receive any special treatment. Foreigners should be convicted and punished the same way that Chinese offenders are.

More than 15 Years in Prison for Stealing Watches

How will the Wangfujing watch thief be punished? Ruan Qilin said that according to Penal Code 263, the thief would be sentenced to ten years in prison, life in prison, or death for grand theft, depending on the value of goods stolen and the circumstances of the case. Because the man stole from a store in the heart of Wangfujing, the theft had a high impact on the city. Ruan Qilin concluded that because no one was injured in the robbery, the expected sentence should be 15 years or more in prison.

Ruan Qilin said that if the defendant is found guilty, he should, on principle, serve out his sentence in a Chinese prison. According to the provision of international criminal law, some foreigners in China are allowed to return to their home countries to serve their prison sentences. However, China and Malaysia do not have such an agreement. Therefore, the man will most likely serve his sentence in a Chinese prison and then face deportation upon his release.

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Keywords: Foreigners China criminal law China foreign thief

24 Comments

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10yearsstrong

Personally I would prefer to see Foreigners simply kicked out of China for lower level crime, which does happen. It's cheaper in the long run to stick them on a plane than drag it through proceedings and sticking them in jail for a couple of years just makes them more China dependent in the long term. Medium and higher crimes they should be treated according to Chinese Law in the fullest.

Apr 02, 2015 04:46 Report Abuse

roaming_panda

Yet another example of the great propaganda machine in a country where the foreign population represents about 0.07% of the population (800,000 as of mid2014) and even after extrapolation of all the brides and illegal foreigners from predominantly southeast asia, the number probably does not exceed too far over 1,000,000. In a country of 1.36 BILLION !!!! To even write an article about isolated incidents like this one proves how much resentment towards outsiders there is here. And why?

Mar 27, 2015 11:05 Report Abuse

jixiang

Writing an article about this is reasonable. The point is that these articles always make sure never to touch the real issues. For instance, how can the law be applied "fairly" to foreigners when there is no concept of fairness in the Chinese legal system anyway? For instance, the Chinese themselves will get different treatment according to whether they are rich or poor, and local or from another part of China. How can foreigners thus not be treated differently because they are foreign?

Mar 27, 2015 11:34 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

It's like there's planet earth and China, two separate entities

Mar 29, 2015 07:32 Report Abuse

Guest2239322

I recommend you to follow http://www.chinasmack.com/ everyday before you write negative things about foreigners. in that website you can see what chinese do everyday.

Mar 27, 2015 10:57 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

Why should us "aliens" be treated any differently? Isn't China all about equality? Haha!

Mar 25, 2015 21:35 Report Abuse

Robk

I find this "government" and the people of China focus far too much on foreigners when there are less than 0.01% of them in the entire population. It's not like back in Canada where JUST Chinese are about 6-8% of the Canadian population. They way they depict us in the media, you would think foreigners are everywhere, stealing their women, attacking and stealing from their people... the list goes on. Actually, I have seen more stories of foreigners saving Chinese (usually from drowning) than committing crimes. Keep running that propaganda machine China!

Mar 25, 2015 10:55 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

so true

Mar 29, 2015 07:30 Report Abuse

miss_selina

Couldn't agree more

Mar 30, 2015 11:45 Report Abuse

gouxiong

Well, this is an expat site, right? I find it quite natural that this site will have a lot of articles relating to foreigners. I do not have a feeling that public media would emphasize foreigners too much. And I am pretty sure that average Chinese does not care about foreigners basically at all (except of disliking Japanese stereotype). On top of that except of coastal cities there are almost no foreigners in inland (in proportion to population) so majority of Chinese are not really caring much.

Mar 31, 2015 11:56 Report Abuse

RiriRiri

The mere fact of asking such a question is admitting laws in China aren't consitent - let alone the rule thereof. By the way ECC you forgot the source but I assume that kind of self indulgent dump either comes from Wenxue or QQ.

Mar 25, 2015 10:23 Report Abuse

Samsara

I have witnessed public violence against women several times since coming to China (and NEVER in any other country). Bystanders gawk for a while and go on their way, or simply pretend not to notice. Police literally do not care. Now, if we were to substitute the Chinese pig/man in these situations with a foreign man (as if that would ever happen), do you think the public indifference would be the same? Would the legal repercussions (i.e. NONE) be the same? Would police display the same apathy and claim they "don't get involved in personal matters"? Or is this article's assessment of foreigners' "unfair privilege" complete BS? --- The article is intended to provoke resentment towards foreigners, by making Chinese people believe that foreigners are treated too well, and cause crime.

Mar 24, 2015 11:11 Report Abuse

ScotsAlan

Iagree Samsara. If think if a foreigner was seen beating a woman he would be in jail pretty quick.

Mar 24, 2015 22:00 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

true

Mar 24, 2015 22:54 Report Abuse

miss_selina

Good point.

Mar 30, 2015 11:44 Report Abuse

Guest2368048

Only when their judicial system and treatment of convicted criminals are as transparent, corruption free, respectful of human rights as the countries where those foreigners are from. Anything less you get criminals' version of justice which is what chinese judicial system is about.

Mar 24, 2015 09:00 Report Abuse

10yearsstrong

You wouldn't know about the Chinese Judicial system other than some beat up Western media reports you've read. I am involved in it and it's very balanced and fair when you understand how the system works and you don't have the right to arrogantly judge it from your own counties perspective.

Apr 02, 2015 04:42 Report Abuse

Englteachted

Dokken is naive this has nothing to do with the question and this has nothing to do with whether or not it is severe. As Mateusz said this is propaganda. They strand together 2 separate incidents that happened about 5 years apart. They did this to subtly suggest there is a foreigner crime wave . The second story has nothing to do with the topic of punishment. But they make no mention of Chinese actively killing people in New Zealand (with their driving)

Mar 24, 2015 08:07 Report Abuse

dokken

15 years would seem a bit excessive, chinese man or not. Rape or serious assault should be more serious than theft. I appreciate their should be a link between the value of the stolen goods and the length of the sentence but I don't think 2million rmb equates to 15 years. A few years, more if money is not returned, should be sufficient deterrence and punishment

Mar 24, 2015 02:13 Report Abuse

roaming_panda

Your forgetting the fact that over here in a place with almost 1.4 billion people, a person's life matters very little. Money is what s at stake here.

Mar 27, 2015 10:54 Report Abuse

dokken

Kind of obvious isn't it. Don't think anybody would ask for or expect to receive favourable sentencing. Nor do I think there is an example of this happening. Not sure of the point of the article

Mar 24, 2015 02:04 Report Abuse

Mateusz

The point is to make Chinese think that waiguoren are being treated better than Chinese, a canard that comes up occasionally.

Mar 24, 2015 05:43 Report Abuse

Karajorma

As pointed out in the article, many foreigners can serve their sentence in their own country. Would you prefer to spend 10 years in a Chinese jail? I've seen quite a few articles on this particular site that do show occasions when foreigners have gotten off spectacularly lightly for crimes. I do doubt a Chinese person would get off as easily.

Mar 24, 2015 22:05 Report Abuse

kuntmans

foreigners should feel the full force of the law. no leniency or discretion.

Mar 28, 2015 11:42 Report Abuse