CHINA

A couple, Liu Yixia, 37, the wife, a former teller of the China Scientific and Technological Development Foundation (CSTDF), and her husband, Li Shaoyang, 44, two jobless, was executed for embezzlement of more than 8.7m yuan (1.05m US dollars) from 1996 to 1999. Li helped his wife to cash the checks she stole from the CSTDF. Cai Xueyuan, a 32-year-old policeman, was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People´s Court of Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan Province for stealing firearms and immediately executed. Three unidentified Beijing criminals were executed earlier convicted of armed robbery and rape. Meanwhile, four convicted robbers in Zhejiang´s Jinhua City were executed for killing two taxi drivers in 1997 and in 2000. Executions were carried out a week after President of the Supreme People´s Court, told judges they should not hesitate to use tough penalties against corrupt cadres and the four "bad elements" of society. In addition to cadres who had betrayed the party, Mr Xiao told judges at a conference that they should show no mercy to: subversive elements trying to overthrow the party; members of "evil cults" like Falun Gong; violent criminals who engaged in robberies and kidnapping; and "modern" thieves like computer hackers.