英语PK台 第118期:中国微信朋友圈"人贩死刑"(1)

 Debate erupts on social media over death for traffickers

Pictures that call for the "death penalty for all child traffickers and immediate¹ execution " have gone viral on Wechat. As of Thursday night, more than 540,000 people have expressed agreement with a proposal that demands death for all child traffickers, by forwarding it on Wechat.

Facing public pressure, Chinese law professors are voicing their opinions on all online platforms and media they can access, with some suggesting web users not to be taken in by some public pages that are just attracting hits.

There were no official statistics about human trafficking in China. The frequent media reports on police raids on child trafficking gangs, and the universal notices for missing children on lamp posts and on the Internet imply that it is prevalent. The rapid spread of the post on social media reflects the fact that it echoes people's long-held concerns.

The viral call for the death sentence for all child traffickers on Chinese social media has led to legal professors' widespread defense² of the existing punishments, although they also admit that greater punishment for buyers may be part of the solution. Qi Xiaoling, a law professor, said prescribing death for every trafficker may lead to more extreme cases– such as killing³ the kidnapped child, to prevent police from finding the evidence of his crime.

According to China's criminal law, whoever abducts⁴ and traffics a child shall be sentenced to at least five years in prison. Under eight aggravating⁵ circumstances, including trafficking more than three persons, sexual abuse, and use of violent means, the trafficker shall be sentenced to more than 10 years, up to life imprisonment⁶. If the circumstances are especially serious, he/she shall be sentenced to death and also to confiscation⁷ of property. And the death sentence, which netizens have called for, has never been ruled out.

Vocabulary：

Child trafficker, viral, take in, abduct, aggravating, confiscation of property, rule out

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 abducts   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的第三人称单数 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Magua himself abducts Cora. 马古亚劫持了科拉。
• So when the evil queen abducts her, it is up the dwarves to save her life. 后来邪恶的皇后协持她，究竟救不救她的性命就由七个小矮人来决定。

5 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

6 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

7 confiscation   

n. 没收, 充公, 征收

参考例句：

• Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 没收一切流亡分子和叛乱分子的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Confiscation of smuggled property is part of the penalty for certain offences. 没收走私财产是对某些犯罪予以惩罚的一部分。