CHINA. CONDITIONS NOT RIPE TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY, SPOKESMAN

China, for the moment, does not have the right conditions for abolishing capital punishment, said spokesman Sun Huapu of the Supreme People's Court. Sun attributed China's preservation of the system to its level of development as the country was still in its initial stages of development, featuring a low level of civilization in which the public still believed in the principle that "a killer should pay the victim with his life". But the country had exerted strict control over the death penalty, ensuring that only a very small number of criminals committing extremely severe crimes be executed, said the official.