1)China is not a religious country. China does not have a state religion.
If you publicly burn Buddhist classics in China, you will be administratively detained as well.The Taliban blew up the 1500-year-old Bamiyang Buddha in Afghanistan. Are these people punished? Not at all!!! i do not beleive in Buddha but i feel sorry for the lose of this 1500 year old hisotrical culture artifact.
2)Burns China's flag is a crime stated clearly in China laws like drug deal,if you violate it ,it is you who will be punished,burn books like bibles is not a crime in China but a bad behavior which may cause some people to resent.You can burn China's flag publicly in Pakistan if you want,i do not think Pakistani gov will put you in prison,maybe you will be detained several days in police station or not at all,but it is your gov's descion.I may feel offensed when i know you bruned China's flag and decided to not be your freind,but you are not deserved to die,it is your descion and choice.Like So many muslim burned yankees President photo such as Obama and Trump,are they deserved to be dead all of them?!!Apprently not!
3)Plus,this guy has been detained,i think he got what he deserved according to Chinese laws.Insult islam publicly is not accetapble in China but not deserved death punishement.
4)In China, if you publicly insult the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party itself, you will be punished more severely, and you will need to jail for a few years or even ten years, but you will not be sentenced to death.
Burning a book is definitely not worthy of being sentenced to death, no matter what book it is. While carring drugs especially heroin in China, you will be sentenced to death if you carry 50 grams of heroin.