Appendix: Relevant legal provisions
The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (excerpts)
Article 105 …
Whoever incites the subversion of the political power of the state and overthrows the socialist system through spreading rumours, libel, or other ways is to be sentenced to not more than five (5) years of fixed-term imprisonment, limited incarceration, probation, or deprivation of political rights; the ringleaders and those whose crimes are grave are to be sentenced to not less than five (5) years of fixed-term imprisonment.
Article 113 …
Whoever commits the crimes in this chapter may also be punished with confiscation of property.
Article 67
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A criminal suspect who truthfully confesses to his crime may be given a lighter punishment even though there is no voluntary surrender, as mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs, and may be given a mitigated punishment if any especially serious consequence is avoided for his truthful confession.
Article 56 Anyone who commits the crime of endangering national security shall be sentenced to deprivation of political rights as a supplementary punishment; anyone who commits the crime of seriously undermining public order by murder, rape, arson, explosion, poisoning or robbery may be sentenced to deprivation of political rights as a supplementary punishment.
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Article 55 The term of deprivation of political rights is not less than one year and not more than five years, except as otherwise stipulated in Article 57 of this Law.
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Article 64 All money and property illegally obtained by a criminal shall be recovered, or compensation shall be ordered; the lawful property of the victim shall be returned without delay; contraband and articles of the criminal’s own property that are used in the commission of the crime shall be confiscated. All the confiscated articles and fines shall be turned over to the state treasury, and no-one may misappropriate or privately dispose of them.
