Execution Broadcast to Show China Won’t Be Bullied
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March 1 (Bloomberg) -- This morning in China, the state-owned television network had an unusual announcement: At 1:30p.m. it would air a two-hour special culminating in thetelevised execution of four Burmese drug runners convicted ofmurdering 13 Chinese sailors in 2011.
This sort of spectacle is not without precedent in Chinesehistory. During the imperial era, emperors held leisurelyexecutions at court. During the Cultural Revolution, the RedGuards held them wherever was convenient. In both cases, thepurpose was clear: impress upon the Chinese audience theconsequences of defying the state and the Communist Party.