Man facing execution in China

[Yoshimitsui]

What's happening with this?

[-:Undertaker:-]

At the bit in bold, do you not think if he went to China to become a pop star and this isnt a normal action, does it not point towards the fact that he wasn't exactly thinking straight, and therefore this may mean he did have the dilusions attributed to bi-polar disorder? That's certainly how I see it. And yes he did have a history of singing, infact a couple have come forward telling how he talked them into allowing him to record a song called "Come Little Rabbits" or something. Those aren't the actions of a man of sound mind.

I personally think the whole thing is disgusting, and it just shows that they cannot be reasoned with at all. They ignored repeated calls for clemecy by the foreign secretary and the PM, and to me it just stinks of China trying to prove a point to the UK.

I think it stinks of this British government (the ones who can't run their own courts, have signed away our sovereignty) thinking they can order other countries what to do and how to run their judicial system in this day and age, especially when the man is clearly guilty - smuggle drugs you get sentenced to death and I totally agree with the Chinese. The pop song cover, is obviously a cover. The Chinese courts would of got to the bottom of this and as I suspect, its just a poorly put together excuse to get him out.

How come everybody seems to develop a mental illness when they are caught? - I just find this incredibly strange. Call me sceptical, but it seems to me to be an excuse for somebody committing a crime nowadays does it not. Instead of lecturing the Chinese on morales why don't people like Gordon Brown sort out their own morales, this government has allowed murderer after murderer out on the streets yet nothing is said of it or done of it. This 'the west is already right' mentality needs to be dropped, because we are not always right anymore.

Well there wasn't much else that could be done. The almighty EU failed to make a stand lol.

"Defiant China claim 'no one has right' to comment on its judicial sovereignty"

Perhaps the United Kingdom could learn something from that when it comes down the to European Union.

[FlyingJesus]

Having a mental disorder doesn't make you above the law in any case. Obviously it's a sad matter if someone is able to be used in such a manner but it takes nothing away from the fact that he was smuggling drugs.

I "suffer" narcissism and nearly every teenager these days is bipolar whether diagnosed or not, does that mean we can get away with being responsible for the addictions and deaths of hundreds of people?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Amen to that Tom, and ontop of this I found this; the top rated comment on the Daily Mail website on this article/story;-

I don't mean to be funny, but what has bipolar got to do with it?

*I* have bipolar, (& anorexia) & have been in hospital a few times...But I would *never* use it as an excuse for anything... let alone drug smuggling! I know *he* isn't saying his bipolar hasn't enabled him to have a fair trial, but how on earth would bipolar affect his decision? Even when you are manic you know right from wrong.

I'm 22, doing a PhD & feel that using bipolar as an excuse sends completely the wrong message to people who know little of the illness. Yes, it is not pleasant, and yes, it *does* affect you...but you make your own decisions in life. Take responsibility for them.

[Sharon]

I can't really dissagree with the Chinese can I.

Correction. I'm not allowed to disagree with the Chinese

[Tash.]

Well there wasn't much else that could be done. The almighty EU failed to make a stand lol.

The almighty EU? What do they have to do with this.. this was between the UK and China, it had nothing to do with the EU.

I think it stinks of this British government (the ones who can't run their own courts, have signed away our sovereignty) thinking they can order other countries what to do and how to run their judicial system in this day and age, especially when the man is clearly guilty - smuggle drugs you get sentenced to death and I totally agree with the Chinese. The pop song cover, is obviously a cover. The Chinese courts would of got to the bottom of this and as I suspect, its just a poorly put together excuse to get him out.

How come everybody seems to develop a mental illness when they are caught? - I just find this incredibly strange. Call me sceptical, but it seems to me to be an excuse for somebody committing a crime nowadays does it not. Instead of lecturing the Chinese on morales why don't people like Gordon Brown sort out their own morales, this government has allowed murderer after murderer out on the streets yet nothing is said of it or done of it. This 'the west is already right' mentality needs to be dropped, because we are not always right anymore.

I think the whole point of this is that yes he may have been found guilty of smuggling the drugs, but there are extenuating circumstances surrounding why he had those drugs on him. You cannot say it was a cover, you don't know enough about the story to say that. I think the fact that the PM and Foreign Secretary got involved actually indicates that there was something wrong with how this trial took place and what was taken into consideration don't you? They obviously wouldn't be getting involved if the man had gone on a rampage and killed several people for no real reason because thats obviously beyond excuse.

Again you're managing to turn this into something Gordon Brown and co have done wrong, well i'm afraid this has nothing to do with what him or the labour party have done wrong. This is about the life of a man who may not have known what the hell he was doing. But hey, if you're ok with this happening then thats fine but it doesn't quite sit right with me. As for the comment you took off the website of a newspaper, just because that person isn't dilusional does not mean that this man wasn't too. Mental illness effects different people, different ways and some worse than others. It's astounding to me that someone who suffers from something like this doesn't understand how another person might have been misunderstood or duped. Just shows how ignorant some people can be I guess.

[Vonko]

No one deserves to die. I would even find it unfair if this man killed someone by mistake, mind taking illevel drugs into a country.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The almighty EU? What do they have to do with this.. this was between the UK and China, it had nothing to do with the EU.

Well I suppose it does have a lot to do with this because in past debates on this forum, supporters of the European Union have claimed that we need to federalise into a European Superstate to combat the growing rise of China - so now here we are, faced with China acting against our offical wishes and what does the EU have to say on it, what is the almighty EU going to do about it?

Nothing.

[Tash.]

Well I suppose it does have a lot to do with this because in past debates on this forum, supporters of the European Union have claimed that we need to federalise into a European Superstate to combat the growing rise of China - so now here we are, faced with China acting against our offical wishes and what does the EU have to say on it, what is the almighty EU going to do about it?

Nothing.

How does 'combating the rise of China' have anything to do with this issue? This is an issue for their judiciary which actually should be seperate to the state itself (whether it is or not in a communist country such as China is a different matter). It is not the EU's place to get involved in something like this.

[-:Undertaker:-]

How does 'combating the rise of China' have anything to do with this issue? This is an issue for their judiciary which actually should be seperate to the state itself (whether it is or not in a communist country such as China is a different matter). It is not the EU's place to get involved in something like this.

As I said before, people on this forum who are supporters of the European Union have argued that domestic positions of Europe can be best served as a collective voice in a world which is seeing the rise of China before its eyes; as shown by this example the EU is yet again proved useless. It can't even do what its supporters say it exists to do.

On China, China have harsh penalties for breaking the law, something maybe this country should take a look at again to stop the rise of crime and general breakdown in respect in this country. It is a joke to put it simply that a man like Gordon Brown can lecture the Chinese authorities on crime, punishment and justice when he and his own government have created a justice system which is the laughing stock of the world, where murderers get 'life' setences yet are out on the streets after a matter of years.

A government which lectures the Chinese on justice when Gordon Brown himself has blocked various inquiries relating to the Iraq War which could of possibly seen those who lied to us brought to justice over a war which cost over a million lives and for what? - no WMD existed as we all knew and Iraq is left a much worse place than it was under the Ba'ath regime.