Death penalty eligible crimes also include offences with violence that do not have lethal consequences such as rape, kidnapping and trafficking of women and children. Indeed, human trafficking (CL.17 Art.240) is one of the limited number of criminal offences where the death penalty is the mandatory sentence in circumstances that are “especially serious”. The other offences are hijacking causing serious injury or death (CL.17 Art.121) and leading a jailbreak (CL.17 Art.317). There is, however, some discretion for judges in determining whether the offence reaches the threshold of “especially serious” circumstances. The understanding of ‘seriousness’ remains problematic in Chinese criminal law. The understanding of ‘seriousness’ remains problematic in Chinese criminal law. Article 48 of the Criminal Law was amended in 1997 to include that the “death penalty shall only be applied to criminal elements who have committed extremely serious crimes”. Prior to this, the law stated that the death penalty should be applied to only the “most heinous crimes”. Some scholars argue that the new wording is more specific and gives a clearer understanding. However, what constitutes an “extremely serious crime” (jiqi yanzhongde fanzui) is not clearly defined and is an issue of debate in China. The Chinese interpretation differs from the UN Safeguards’ “most serious crimes” because it is understood to relate to the “degree of harm” (weihai chengdu) within any one category of crime.13 In other words, the phrase refers to the “extremely serious” examples of those offences which are death penalty eligible. Three factors largely account for the number of executions in China today: the use of the suspended death sentence, the approach to violent crime, and the punishment of drug-related offences. Sentencing A death sentence in China will either be with immediate execution or with a two-year suspension (sihuan). The sentence of sihuan, unique to China, has been increasingly deployed by judges, since the 2000s, following the ‘kill fewer, kill cautiously’ policy, to simultaneously signal a harsh punishment while limiting the number of executions. At the time of sentencing, the judge can decide whether a death sentence should result in immediate execution or if it should be suspended. Both sentences are seen as belonging to the same category of the death penalty. Chinese law is very ambiguous about the grounds for the court to decide whether a death sentence with immediate execution is warranted. Article 48 of the 2017 Criminal Law implies that execution will be “necessary” in some cases. The vagueness of the law and the lack of formal sentencing guidelines for death penalty cases leave the courts open to the influence of changing criminal justice policies and public opinion. 13 Trevaskes, Susan. The Death Penalty in Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 13