Her gambling debts are crippling her, and she plots to blackmail her hostess by starting the fire in order to "rescue" her family's home from being destroyed by the flames.
The crime of arson is classed as "the offence of compromising public safety," according to Article 106 of the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China."
Anyone who causes major injury, death, or significant damage of public or private property through the use of arson, floods, explosion, poisoning, or other dangerous techniques will be condemned to a fixed-term jail sentence under the Criminal Code.
Lin Shuqiang was executed in June 1995 in Zhuhai County, Guangdong Province, according to Amnesty International's China: Death Penalty Record: January-June 1995 report.
Consider the case of Cheng Zilong, who was hanged in Anhui Province in February 1995 for poisoning cattle and sentenced to a year in prison for setting fire to hay and melon fields, among other offences.
Chen Xiaoming was condemned to death in February 1995 for setting fire to two individuals in Dongtai County, Jiangsu Province.
Several years ago, two employees of a relocation business in Shanghai were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and another to life in jail for setting fire to a block of apartments that needed to be transported, killing an elderly couple in the process.
1 Intermediate People's Court condemned two employees of the Shanghai Chengkai Housing Relocation Co., Ltd. to death for the crime of arson in the first instance, with the possibility of a two-year delay if the case goes to trial.
China's transition to a market economy has been implemented on a broad scale, so many crimes punishable by death have gradually turned into life sentences.
Those who have committed murder in China while being under the age of 18 are subject to the maximum legal penalty, which is life in jail without the possibility of parole.
"Recidivists and criminals who have been sentenced to life imprisonment for violent crimes such as homicide, bombing, and robbery shall not be granted parole."
The policy of life imprisonment without the possibility of release that is mandated by Chinese law for those convicted of murder is helpful in minimizing the number of homicides that occur in China and maintaining social harmony and order.
The current Criminal Law of China has been revised to implement a system of life imprisonment without the possibility of commutation or parole for death row inmates who have been convicted of the most heinous crime of corruption and bribery.
Due to the immaturity of relevant legislation, theoretical circles are divided on the nature, application methods, and scope of life imprisonment.
Disparities in politics, ideology, and the law make it difficult for China to track down criminals who have fled the country (Cheng & Ma, 2009).
The approach of the leadership of the Communist Party to the case of Bo Xilai has been to characterize it as a straightforward criminal investigation rather than a political struggle.
The decision against Bo Xilai was hailed as a success for the anti-corruption movement in China by the country's official news outlets.
The career of Bo Xilai is an illustration of how corrupt officials in China frequently gain several promotions without any apparent concern of being investigated for illegal activity.
Drug trafficking in China is a criminal offense that can result in the death penalty, and the country has been implementing stringent measures to combat the problem.
It was also necessary to code the outcome of each arrested corpse packer's punishment, which may be either a term of incarceration, life imprisonment, or the death penalty.