A New Zealand court yesterday sentenced two Chinese students to 18 years and six months in prison for kidnapping and killing a fellow student.

Cui Xiangxin and Li Zheng, both 22, were found guilty of kidnapping Wan Biao, 19, in April 2006, and strangulating him to death when they couldn't get a ransom of NZ$800,000 ($526,000) from his parents.

The jury acquitted Wang Yuxi, another 22-year-old student, of murder charges but found him guilty of kidnapping Wan, and handed him down a three-year, nine-month sentence.

Also, the court accepted Wang's offer to pay NZ$25,000 ($19,300) as compensation to Wan's family.

The jury had found the three guilty in October, and the sentences were announced yesterday. The judge said the three had fallen into "cyber sloth", spending much of their time playing computer games and watching DVDs instead of studying.

The three convicts, who are from Zhejiang Province, will be deported to China after serving their sentences.

Police probe found the victim died of strangulation. His body was dismembered, stuffed in a black vinyl suitcase, along with bloodstained towels and plastic garbage bags, two saws and a knife, and dumped in Waitemata Harbor in Auckland on April 14, 2006.

Some Chinese students and educators believe the "shocking" case raises concern over the situations Chinese students studying abroad have to confront.

"I am shocked. I feel pity for the convicts' parents because they must have made a great effort to send their sons overseas for studies. They must have felt proud doing so but now they must be desperate," said Zhang Yongguang, who went to study in Britain when he was 18 and has lived there for six years.

Peking University's professor of sociology Xia Xueluan said some Chinese students who go abroad face psychological pressure in the beginning and need help from teachers and peers to overcome it.

"Some students have big difficulties with language, which may add to their anxiety and even lead to abnormal behavior," Xia said.

Chinese employers favor professionals who have studied abroad and have an understanding of different cultures. This prompts many Chinese families to try and send their children abroad for studies. Ministry of Education data show the number of self-financed Chinese students studying abroad has risen 10 times from 1998 to 121,000 last year.

According to Beijing Normal University professor Hong Chengwen, parents should think twice before deciding to send their children abroad.

(China Daily December 7, 2007)