World Notes China

The six manacled men showed no emotion as a Shanghai court pronounced them guilty of either raping or molesting 48 women between 1981 and 1984. As a crowd of 3,000 looked on, three of the gang members were whisked off to the outskirts of the city. There the trio were unceremoniously executed by gunshots to the back of the head. What made the swift justice remarkable was that two of the three were sons of senior Chinese officials. Their deaths were the most dramatic sign yet of Peking's determination to stamp out rampant nepotism.

Traditionally, the children of Chinese leaders have received the best schooling, landed plum jobs and even escaped punishment for criminal behavior. Such favoritism has created widespread bitterness. Two months ago, Politburo Member Hu Qili warned officials and their wayward offspring that the government was prepared to "kill one to teach 100" a lesson. Last week the People's Daily, China's official newspaper, drove home the meaning of the Shanghai trial: "Among the six criminals, some are workers, some are cadres and some are children of high-ranking officials. The court's solemn conviction strongly demonstrates the principle that everyone is equal before the law."