“I won’t comply!”
Those were reportedly the last words of Xia Junfeng, a street vendor who ran a kebab stall in Shenyang, Liaoning province, just before his excution on Wednesday. Four years ago, in what he insisted was an act of self-defense, Xia stabbed to death two urban city management enforcement officers -- chengguan -- and wounded another. Most Chinese, including many law professionals, believed Xia should have been charged with "excessive defense," but after four years of appeals, the Supreme Court finally approved his death sentence.
Tang Hui, the mother of an 11-year-old kidnapping, rape, and forced prostitution victim, was sent to a reeducation through labor camp last August for daring to raise her voice to say her daugther's rapists got off easy. The decision sparked outrage, and though Tang only served one week of her 18-month sentence, her case may have been the impetus behind proposed reforms to dissolve forced labor camps.
