China sentences 14 to death in Xiamen smuggling case.

BEIJING, Nov. 8 Kyodo

Chinese courts have sentenced 14 people to death for involvement in a smuggling ring that illegally imported $6.4 billion worth of goods through south China's bustling port city of Xiamen, the official news agency Xinhua said Wednesday.

Five separate courts in Fujian Province also handed out various prison terms to 84 officials charged in the first round of trials to finish, Xinhua said.

Those sentenced include many of Xiamen's senior cadres, but the case has not yet touched the pinnacle of power.

The first sentences do, however, include terms meted out to the city's deputy party secretary, the vice mayor, the head of customs, the deputy director of provincial public security and the heads of the local branches of two of China's largest banks.

Xinhua added the cases dealt with so far are ''only the first batch'' of prosecutions and said ''a large number of criminals'' involved in the case, including more party members and government officials, are to ''meet with justice'' soon.

Other prominent figures suspected of involvement in the case are avoiding punishment, though.

Alleged leader Lai Changxing has thus far avoided arrest, apparently because he was tipped off and fled the country before the investigation got off the ground.

Two of his brothers received long prison terms and had all their property seized, however.

No military officials were charged, although reports have stated that military ships were used to transport goods for the smuggling ring.

The former boss of what has been Xiamen's largest import-export company has also avoided any official implication in what some observers say illustrates the limits on China's crackdown on corruption.

Lin Youfang may have been saved by the fact that her husband Jia Qinglin, formerly Xiamen's top party official, has close ties with President Jiang Zemin, reportedly even having been best man at Jiang's wedding.

China is hailing the prosecutions as a ''major achievement'' in the country's anticorruption drive, but some observers are skeptical.

''If they were serious about cracking down on corruption they would put Jia Qinglin on trial,'' Chinese University of Hong Kong  politics professor Benjamin Ostrov told Kyodo News.

China has, however, demonstrated seriousness in cracking down on smuggling, he said.

The illegal importation of massive quantities of oil, cars, tobacco and other goods ''caused great damage'' to domestic industries, officials have said.

Ostrov noted smuggling also costs the government billions of dollars in tax revenues each year. The Xiamen smugglers alone avoided an estimated $3.6 billion in taxes since 1996.

The antismuggling drive begun early this year has had marked success though, he said, and fewer goods are escaping the attention of the newly reinforced customs offices.

Even if investigations do not reach everyone involved, the degree to which they have gone is sending a strong message, he added.