Punishing exam cheats on case by case basis

A 26-YEAR-OLD, who sat this year's National Postgraduate Entrance Examination in place of someone else, is being prosecuted along with the person who was supposed to take the exam. Similar prosecution cases have been noted after the country included the offense in the Criminal Law in November. Beijing Times lauds such exemplary prosecutions but also calls for due punishments on all parties involved in the cheating:

In the aforementioned case, it is foreseeable that neither the MBA pursuer nor his substitute in this year's National Postgraduate Entrance Examination will face severe penalties if they are convicted, according to the newly approved Amendment IX to the Criminal Law.

Many may therefore wonder whether the likely guilty verdict will generate enough deterrent effects to safeguard justice and the fairness of the national examinations.