Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in...

Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in southeast China's Fujian province after being convicted of trafficking the illegal methamphetamine drug 'ice'.
The group was accused of smuggling a total of 357 kilograms (785 pounds) of the substance from neighbouring Guangdong province to Shishi city in Fujian between October and November 2002. The five were identified as Lin Wenbin, Qiu Siqing, Chen Yongfa, Jiang Shiqian and Chen Songhui and all had been living temporarily in the Fujian city of Xiamen, a port city across the Taiwan Strait.
Jiang was seized in late November 2002 while transporting 101 kilograms of the drug by long-distance bus. All five were given death sentences but Chen Songhui was given a two-year reprieve from his execution because of his relatively minor role in the illegal operation.
Reprieves are generally downgraded to life imprisonment on the basis of a prisoner's good behaviour.