Text in image 1: Fu Zhenghua, former Minister of Justice in China, on Thursday was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 117 million yuan ($16.76 million).
Text in image 2: For people that don’t know, the reprieve part basically means that if they find some strong additional charges the death penalty will happen(execution), but if they do not find any in the set period. Instead he will have a normal life sentence.
For all intents and purposes, death with 2 years probation is just a life sentence. It has similar effect to jail terms over 100 years in the US, the received punishment is the same, but it makes a statement that your crime was objectively worse than just life imprisonment. It also gives a chance to execute those who are unrehabilitatable (you do more bad stuff during the 2 year wait period), who we really shouldn’t waste hard earned tax money on.