China to get tougher on fake bomb threats

The Supreme People's Procuratorate of China published three hoax bomb cases to guide the ruling of similar cases in a bid to crack down on fake airline bomb threats, Beijing News reported on Wednesday.

Existing Chinese criminal law says that whoever knowingly fabricates threats of explosion or intentionally disseminates such information shall be sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and that he shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least five years if he causes serious consequences.

The three cases are expected to help define such behaviors as fabrication, intentional dissemination and the seriousness of consequences, in order to standardize law enforcement, according to the court.

The punishment for fake bomb threats in China is light compared to other countries, and financial penalties may be combined with criminal sentences to deter similar cases from happening, said Li Wei, director of the security and arms control department at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.