FOR

Dou Xumin

Prosecutor

This law has gained unprecedented approval among the public as it shows that the government respects human rights.

Food is the first necessity of people. Food safety really matters to people's health, even their life safety. If the dishonest merchants were not severely punished, their criminal activities would not be stopped. In this sense, it's right for the NPC Standing Committee to adopt the death penalty in the Criminal Law to punish serious food safety crime. 

Although the market economy pursues pecuniary benefits, it can't be to the detriment of people's interests. Business people should be clear about this. Without the huge number of consumers and their trust, how could they sell their products and make money? However, there are indeed such unscrupulous merchants who ignore people's safety or are not afraid of punishment by law. For them, it is necessary to use the death penalty as a deterrent.

Du Ming

Sanjiang City News

I don't advocate the use of the death penalty. But for those who contaminate food with inedible additives, harsh penalties, even the death penalty, should be implemented. People's evil ways vary in degrees. For example, a criminal who kills people during a bank robbery gets harsher punishment than those who just steal money. Similarly, those responsible for deaths as a result of food safety crimes ought to be harshly punished.

I also admit that the death penalty won't stop crime. But it is the only practical punishment. The successive scandals on food safety have shown that credibility, the bottom line for any business, has collapsed. When morality collapses, resorting to law becomes the last means to supervise the market.

Wang Lijun

NPC deputy

Potential safety hazards in food and drug products are the greatest threat to the nation. The successive scandals on food safety have imposed a great challenge to the government and are weakening public trust. Making people feel safe is the foundation of improving people's livelihood. In this sense, harsh punishment to such crimes is urgently needed. In addition to heavy fines, the death sentence should be used. Heavy fines will financially cripple the negligent companies and the death penalty will deter the occurrence of similar crimes.