中國的死刑：挑戰與展望

The Death Penalty in China: Challenges and Prospects

本文更新幾個有關死刑的國際數據，進而從與死刑研究的邂逅出發，評估英文文獻中有關中國死刑的研究，特別是公眾輿論。我們認為，公共輿論，尤其在反對死刑的與支援死刑的資訊流通不對稱的情況下，不應成為阻礙中國廢除死刑的藉口。我們列舉反對死刑的主要觀點與實證並從比較學的角度上提出了一個有佛教特色的死刑假設，有待檢驗。我們認為死刑是衡量一個政府先進性和文明性的重要標準。我們附和邱興隆教授提出的，中國應該立即全面廢除死刑。和國外其他許多政治學者一樣，我也認為，死刑在中國不是一個法律問題，而是一個政治問題。我們欣慰地看到，許多中國學者已經聲稱，限制與消滅死刑的適用已成為中國學界與實務界的共識。我們希望中國媒體中能夠看到、聽到更多消滅、廢除死刑的聲音。我們認為推動廢除死刑不僅可以幫助中國政府加強合法性，也有利於推動中華民國從傳統的臣民、子民轉向現代意義上的公民。儘管我們對廢止死刑的前景並不樂觀，我們樂於看見中國政府僅早兌現自己的承諾。

The dual purpose of this article is to update information on the death penalty in the world and to examine capital punishment in China, paying special attention to public opinion. We argue that public opinion should not be used as an excuse to retain capital punishment, especially when there is an asymmetry of information flow in China. We also list the major arguments against capital punishment and empirical evidence on the deterrence effect of it in the USA. We raise a hypothesis on the public support for the death penalty in Buddhist nations. We concur to Professor Qiu Xinglong that China should abolish the death penalty immediately. We are delighted to learn that more and more scholars in China have agreed that there is a need to limit the scope of capital sentence and to abolish it eventually. We believe that abolishment of capital punishment would help strengthen the legitimacy of Chinese government and it would be beneficial for the public's transition from the traditional role as subjects to that of modern citizens. Although we are not optimistic about the abolishment of capital punishment in the near future, we'd like to see that the Chinese government will fulfill its promise of the eventual abolishment someday.