The Secret Beneath the Neckerchiefs

Death-Row Inmates Forbidden to Speak.

The observation that in recent years all Chinese death-row inmates wear a white neckerchief before they are executed seems curious. A microblog published on January 29 by Mr. Xiaoyuan Liu, a lawyer in Beijing, seems to provide a clue to the puzzle.

Liu’s microblog entitled “The Secret Beneath the Neckerchief of Death-Row Inmates”, mentions that the 15 prisoners executed in Changsha City on December 29 of last year and Yuan Baojing, a billionaire sentenced to death March 17, 2006 for committing homicide and executed on the same day, all wore a neckerchief. In contrast, none of the death-row inmates executed in the 1990’s wore one. Mr. Liu also said the white neckerchief strikes fear into a lot of Chinese people because nobody knows what is concealed beneath it.  

Without a doubt, the white neckerchief has aroused a lot of guessing. One such guess was that the neckerchiefs are to keep the prisoners warm. Zhizhu Yang, a former associate professor at the China Youth University for Political Sciences, commented that the weather in Liaoning Province in the middle of March is not usually cold. “Besides,” he asked, “do you really think the Chinese police would keep a death-row inmate warm while the police are enduring the chill?” 

He added, “There might be a fine steel wire strapped around the inmate’s neck so that he can’t speak.” At the end of his commentary, Mr. Yang urged that such an evil custom, i.e., depriving the inmate’s rights of demanding justice before execution, should be abolished.

A Chinese blogger said a retired policeman told him that a very fine steel wire is strapped around the neck of the inmate so that the inmate would lose the capacity of speech as the policeman pulls the wire tight to pressurize the inmate’s throat. The neckerchief is simply camouflage used to cover up what is really going on.

Another blogger indicated that the current practice is far less notorious when compared to how the Chinese communist regime executed criminals in the past. “A rope was wrapped around the neck of the prisoners in the past. Now they use white neckerchief to conceal their practice.” The blogger added, “In the past, they would cut the prisoner’s throat before shooting him or her to death. They would even charge the prisoner’s family for the cost of the bullet afterwards.” Mr. Jia Jia, a senior media practitioner, voiced his sarcasm saying, “The white neckerchief of the death-row inmate indicates that the Chinese regime has gradually built up a sense of shame.”

Feedback from Readers:

1. KanzhongguoKZG netizen:

The Chinese Communist Party has dedicated itself to “struggle”. Not only does it struggle among its members, it also agitates constant struggles among Chinese citizens. The land is soaked with blood and covered with skeletons. In the course  of human history, the evolution and existence of the Chinese Communist Party is like an evil spirit that winds itself firmly around the Chinese nation. There is no hope for this nation until the Chinese Communist Party falls apart.

2. Kanzhongguo netizen

How miserable it is that we are fighting with each other! If you really have time, you should think about how you can contribute yourself to your motherland. Your opinion does nothing good. It dishonors your country in front of the whole world.

3. Laobaixing:

It would be great if the American came and fought with the Chinese communist regime. We would guide the multinational troops to find the corrupt government officials, including my corrupted relatives and friends.

4. Kanzhongguo netizen

For those who know evil, nothing is so vicious as this. The nature of the Chinese Communists does not change at all. They play all the same old tricks in a new disguise. 

5. Mainlander: 

The Chinese Communist Party is the most vicious criminal organization.

6. Qingqingdao: 

It was the billionaire Yuan Baojing himself who put on a white scarf around his neck. The purpose was to indicate that he had been treated with injustice. There wasn’t any steel wire beneath his scarf. Yet I am not sure why the other prisoners wear a white scarf.

7. Minengchedan:

You call that a scarf? It is actually a hada, a piece of silk used as gift among Tibetans and Mongolians. The wife of the prisoner in Liaoning Province is a Tibetan. In many circumstances Tibetans offer hadas to others, including those who are facing death penalty. Only after reading this article did I understand how some people of the Han nationality are ill-natured.

8. HaHa: 

If what you said is true, then who offered the hadas to the 15 prisoners executed in Changsha City? Can you provide a reasonable explanation?

9. 606:

In any dynasty during the thousands of years of Chinese history, prisoners destined for death penalty were allowed to speak and even granted the right of demanding a justice.