As part of the "strike-hard" campaign, which began...

As part of the "strike-hard" campaign, which began mid-April, Chinese courts in Sichuan, Henan and Guangdong provinces executed 12 criminals, the Supreme People's Court [SPC] said.The criminals were all engaged in serial robberies and murders.Ran Xingli, Yang Guiqing, Pan Chuangdong and Zhou Yufu, the four men executed in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan province, were engaged in armed robbery of passengers and vehicles along highways and local shops. They caused between seven and 11 deaths each.Another four men executed by the court in Luoyang city of the Henan Province, Chang Jianli, Wu Wenli, Ren Yunshuang and Liu Xiaoliu, were found to have used sleeping pills as weapons against their prey. Each man murdered up to five victims and stole property valued between 120,000 yuan and 340,000 yuan. They even murdered three accomplices for the sake of keeping their crimes secret.Deng Xingzhong, Deng Jiqian, Li Meijun and Deng Lianhu, the four men put to death by a court in Huizhou city of Guangdong, were farmers from the adjacent Hunan Province. They were "experts" in robbing taxi drivers and other drivers. The four men killed 9 drivers in one year from September 1998. The "Strike-Hard" campaign focuses on the most serious crimes such as: explosions, murders, robbery, kidnapping, poisoning; gang crimes and crimes with Mafia features; thefts and other crimes that affect the public security.