Three major focal points in the retrial of the Inner Mongolia police shooting case: The debate between “self-defense” and “intentional homicide”

After two days of trial, on November 27th, the retrial of the intentional homicide case against Xing Zhiqiang, former deputy director of the Public Security Bureau of Siziwang Banner in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, concluded, with the verdict to be announced at a later date.

This is a shooting case that occurred 29 years ago. Xing Zhiqiang was accused of shooting and killing the victim, Meng Yongqing, during an interception and investigation. After the incident, Xing Zhiqiang, who was then a police officer in the Communications Unit of the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau, was deemed to have acted in self-defense. In August 2020, Xing Zhiqiang was placed under investigative detention by the supervisory committee while serving as deputy director of the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau. He was not charged with corruption, bribery, or other duty-related crimes but was eventually indicted for this old case.

At the time of the incident, the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau determined that Xing Zhiqiang’s actions were in self-defense.

After being sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial, Xing Zhiqiang appealed. In March 2024, the Inner Mongolia High Court ruled that the original judgment had unclear facts and insufficient evidence, overturned the first-instance judgment, and remanded the case to the Ulanqab Intermediate Court for retrial.

The case’s nature significantly shifted from “self-defense” to “intentional homicide” many years later. However, the relevant case files and physical evidence, such as the involved firearm, have not been found. Currently, confessions and testimonies were recorded more than 20 years later.

What was the course of the incident? What are the current focal points? From November 26 to 27, 2024, the retrial focused on the incident’s details, whether Xing Zhiqiang’s actions constituted self-defense or intentional homicide, and whether there was a causal relationship in criminal law between Meng Yongqing’s death and the gunshot wound. Key eyewitnesses and expert assistants testified during the trial.

Focus 1: Was the interception and investigation a duty-related action, and did it exceed his responsibilities?

When the 51-year-old Xing Zhiqiang entered the defendant’s seat, he wore a black jacket and held a stack of materials. As he entered the courtroom, he looked towards his relatives and friends sitting in the gallery.

On the first day of the retrial, November 26, Xing Zhiqiang recounted the incident in court, gesturing with his hands to describe how he struggled with the victim, Meng Yongqing, when discussing key details.

According to Xing Zhiqiang’s statement, he was 22 years old and a police officer in the Communications Unit of the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau when the incident occurred in 1995. Interested in firearms, he borrowed a small-caliber sporting rifle and two bullets from a friend. Around 4-5 pm on June 6 of that year, he invited his then-girlfriend Xiaona and friend Wang Daming to shoot glass bottles at the dam of the Wulanhua Reservoir (also known as Dongliang Reservoir). While shooting, a man rode down the hill on a red motorcycle. He recognized the man as Meng Yongqing.

Meng Yongqing, born in 1974 in Wulanhua Town, Siziwang Banner, was one year younger than Xing Zhiqiang. In June 1991, the Ulanqab Intermediate Court sentenced Meng Yongqing to 15 years of imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for four years for theft. Subsequently, Meng Yongqing served his sentence in the Autonomous Juvenile Delinquent Detention Center in Hohhot.

Due to lumbar disc herniation, Meng Yongqing frequently requested leave for medical treatment. According to a statement from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Juvenile Delinquent Correctional Facility, his last leave for home treatment was from October 31 to November 30, 1994. The defense argued that this meant Meng Yongqing was overdue for return at the time of the incident.

Xing Zhiqiang stated that he had never met Meng Yongqing before and only heard about Meng’s criminal record for theft after joining the police force.

At that time, Meng Yongqing was riding a red Suzuki AX100 motorcycle. Xing Zhiqiang claimed that the motorcycle was expensive, leading him to suspect that Meng Yongqing had stolen it. On that day, he wore an old green police uniform but no hat. He believed that as a police officer, it was his duty to intercept and investigate the suspicious Meng Yongqing.

The first-instance judgment previously made by the Ulanqab Intermediate Court found that when Xing Zhiqiang approached to intercept, Meng Yongqing fled. During the pursuit, Meng Yongqing turned his motorcycle around and charged at Xing Zhiqiang, stabbing him in the back with a knife. Eventually, Xing Zhiqiang shot Meng Yongqing in the back during the pursuit, and the injured Meng fled, abandoning his motorcycle.

Xing Zhiqiang claimed that Meng Yongqing’s escape and attack further convinced him that something was wrong.

On the second day of the trial, the prosecution and defense debated whether Xing Zhiqiang’s intended interception and investigation constituted a duty-related action.

The prosecutor argued that Xing Zhiqiang’s actions were not in the performance of his duties. According to testimonies from multiple police officers at the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau, there was no report of Meng Yongqing’s theft at the time of the incident, nor was there any deployment of an arrest operation.

The prosecutor stated that from the perspective of task execution, no case involving Meng Yongqing was ongoing at the time, and the police bureau had not assigned any arrest tasks to Xing Zhiqiang. Moreover, on the day of the incident, Xing Zhiqiang and his two companions were playing at the reservoir and not performing any tasks. Additionally, from the perspective of a police officer performing duties, although Xing Zhiqiang, as a police officer, had the right to stop and investigate the suspicious Meng Yongqing who had a history of theft, and had the right to pursue when Meng resisted and attacked, Xing exceeded the scope of investigation and pursuit by illegally using his firearm, resulting in undue serious consequences and constituting a crime.

It was noted that on June 28, 1995, the Siziwang Banner Public Security Bureau issued a document titled “Determination that Xing Zhiqiang’s Actions in the Meng Yongqing Case Constituted Self-Defense.” The document stated, “Meng Yongqing’s actions against Xing Zhiqiang were unlawful infringement, and Xing Zhiqiang, driven by a strong sense of responsibility, was executing his duties in accordance with the third item of the first paragraph of Article 9 of the Police Law by intercepting, investigating, and pursuing Meng, which were lawful actions.”

Wu Danhong, Xing Zhiqiang’s defense counsel, argued that according to the relevant provisions of the Police Law, police officers have the right and obligation to investigate suspects. In this case, Meng Yongqing’s behavior of evading investigation and attacking with a knife was extremely abnormal. Therefore, under such circumstances, Xing Zhiqiang’s action of intercepting and arresting Meng Yongqing out of professional responsibility was legitimate and lawful.

Focus 2: Causal relationship between gunshot wound, delayed treatment, and death

After being shot, Meng Yongqing did not seek medical attention immediately but chose to hide.

The first-instance judgment previously made by the Ulanqab Intermediate Court found that after being injured, Meng Yongqing hid and attempted to remove the bullet from his body with broken glass. He was sent to the Wuchuan County Hospital for treatment on June 8, 1995, but died after failed rescue efforts.

According to the testimony of Meng Yongqing’s father, Meng Binli, in the first-instance judgment, police were watching their house at that time, and the injured Meng Yongqing crawled from Hongshan Village to the Siziwang Banner Garment Factory. Fearing that police would catch Meng Yongqing, he hid him in a charcoal room, provided some bedding, and gave him water. On the evening of June 7, Meng Yongqing broke a glass jar and used the glass to cut open his abdomen to remove the bullet.

Meng Binli stated that after settling Meng Yongqing, he informed his wife, Liu Wuxian, about the situation. Liu Wuxian immediately sought a vehicle to take Meng Yongqing to a hospital in Hohhot. According to the testimonies of Meng Yongqing’s brother, Meng Yonghe, and other relatives in the first-instance judgment, on the morning of June 8, 1995, on the way to a hospital in Hohhot, Meng Yongqing lost his eyesight. Liu Wuxian wanted to take Meng Yongqing to the nearer Siziwang Banner Hospital, but Meng shook his head and refused, so they went to Wuchuan County Hospital instead. It had been over 30 hours since Meng Yongqing was shot.

Meng Yonghe testified that Meng Yongqing’s blood pressure was very low at that time, and Liu Wuxian had to buy blood for the surgery.

Two days after the incident, Meng Yongqing died after failed rescue efforts.

In the identification report issued by the former Ulanqab Allied Public Security Bureau on June 20, 1995, the analysis of Meng Yongqing’s death stated: “He was shot in the abdomen by our police officer