Amnesty International believes that in actual fact...

Amnesty International believes that in actual fact the number of death sentences and executions is much higher than the figures in their possession; this is because the Chinese authorities never publish statistics on the death penalty as they are considered a "state secret." Criminals put to death included children, drunk drivers and thieves. Torture was often used to extract confessions. The number of executions traditionally rises ahead of holidays and this is popular with the Chinese public. Many defendants were sentenced to death for a range of non-violent crimes, including drink-driving, tax fraud, embezzlement and credit-card theft.