China Sentences 20 Criminals To Die

Twenty criminals have been sentenced to death in southern China, including a man who killed a 4-year-old girl in a dispute with his neighbor, according to an official newspaper report.

The Zhanjiang City Intermediate People’s Court handed down the death sentences for rape, robbery and murder convictions, the Yangchang Evening News reported Wednesday. The report reached Beijing on Thursday.

More than 2,000 death sentences have been handed down since China began an anti-crime campaign last April.

One of those sentenced was Zheng Pingzhong, convicted of tossing a stick of dynamite into the home of a neighbor who had criticized him for entertaining prostitutes. The neighbor’s 4-year old daughter was killed by the blast.