Damn...They don't play

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070900689_pf.html

Quote :

"BEIJING -- China on Tuesday executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog who had become a symbol of the country's wide-ranging problems on product safety. Zheng Xiaoyu's execution was confirmed by state television and the official Xinhua News Agency. "The few corrupt officials of the (State Food and Drug Administration) are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems," SFDA spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a news conference held to highlight efforts to improve China's track record on food and drug safety. "We should seriously reflect and learn lessons from these cases. We should step up our efforts to ensure food and drug safety, which is what we are doing now and what we will do in the future," Yan said about Zheng and a separate case involving Cao Wenzhuang, the administration's former pharmaceutical registration department director. Zheng was sentenced to death in May for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines. Cao was given a death sentence last month with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes and dereliction of duty. Such suspended death sentences usually are commuted to life in prison if the convict is deemed to have reformed. Zheng's death sentence was unusually heavy even for China, believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, and likely indicates the leadership's determination to confront the country's dire product safety record. Yan said the food and drug administration was working to tighten its safety procedures and create a more transparent operating environment. But the administration acknowledged that its supervision of food and drug safety is unsatisfactory and that it has been slow to tackle the problem, but vowed to improve. "As a developing country, China's current food and drug safety situation is not very satisfactory because supervision of food and drug safety started late. Its foundation is weak so the supervision of food and drug safety is not easy," it said in a statement at the start of the news conference. China has been under pressure domestically and internationally to improve its quality controls after a series of health scares attributed to substandard Chinese products, including exported tainted food and fake drugs. Chinese officials already have said the country faces social unrest and a further tarnished image abroad unless it improves the quality and safety of its food and medicine. The industry regulator, the State Food and Drug Administration, has announced a series of measures to tighten safety controls and closed factories where illegal chemicals or other problems were found. Fears abroad over Chinese-made products were sparked last year by the deaths of dozens of people in Panama who took medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol imported from China. It was passed off as harmless glycerin. In North America earlier this year, pet food containing Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats. Since then, U.S. authorities have turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe color additives and popular toy trains decorated with lead paint. Chinese-made toothpaste also has been banned in a handful of countries due to its content of diethylene glycol. However, there have been no reports of health problems stemming from the product. China has no guideline banning the chemical in toothpaste, and the government says it is harmless in small amounts. The list of food scares within China over the past year includes drug-tainted fish, banned Sudan dye used to color egg yolks red, and pork tainted with clenbuterol, a banned feed additive. China also has stepped up its inspections of imported products and said some U.S. products are not safe. In the latest case, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday that a shipment of sugar-free drink mix from the United States had been rejected for having too much red dye. Last week, China's food safety watchdog said almost 20 percent of products made for consumption within China were found to be substandard in the first half of 2007. Canned and preserved fruit and dried fish were the most problematic, primarily because of excessive bacteria and additives, the agency said. "

[Edited on July 10, 2007 at 9:05 AM. Reason : .]

7/10/2007 9:04:31 AM

China scares the shit out of me

7/10/2007 9:07:46 AM

well if we executed officials who took bribes... maybe there would be less corruption?

7/10/2007 9:34:41 AM

I wonder who took over his job... frickin' scary job!

7/10/2007 9:43:00 AM

Thank you for applying! Your job responsibilities include

* ensuring the safety of all Chinese made foods
* ensuring the safety of all Chinese made drugs

Failure to complete these tasks will warrant permanent suspension or death.

7/10/2007 9:44:20 AM

Quote :

"Zheng was sentenced to death in May for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines."

He's basically responsible for the deaths of at least 10 people. Fuck him.

I like that the time from sentencing to execution was quick. We could learn from that.

7/10/2007 9:46:05 AM

Quote :

"We could should learn from that."

7/10/2007 9:47:12 AM

Iraq executed Saddam pretty quick, too. Let's learn from that while we're at it

7/10/2007 9:50:07 AM

Haha, a Chinese politician executed for taking bribes? Isn't that their sole purpose?

7/10/2007 9:56:29 AM

taking bribes and not getting caught

7/10/2007 9:59:21 AM

did they feed him toothpaste?

7/10/2007 10:40:49 AM

yeah, that was what was in the syringe for the lethal injection.

7/10/2007 10:41:29 AM

I think that on paper this a pretty good idea. Use the threat of extreme punishment to discourage bureaucrats from taking bribes. I'm sure it won't completely hault corruption, but increasing the costs associated with getting caught should at least discourage people from doing it.

In practice, however, I don't know that it would work all that well. At least not in our country. Politicians and bureaucrats here are so buddy-buddy with one another and so well connected that no action will be taken if somebody gets caught. Look at what happens now; people get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

7/10/2007 10:53:39 AM

see, this is how capital punishment should work. do it quickly while people still remember. more of a deterent than watching some 70 yr old die from a crime 45 yrs ago.

7/10/2007 10:57:05 AM

Quote :

"hipment of sugar-free drink mix from the United States had been rejected for having too much red dye"

7/10/2007 11:39:22 AM

Quote :

"Use the threat of extreme punishment to discourage bureaucrats from taking bribes. "

There are countless studies that have shown that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent. I feel that execution should be used as a way of protecting society, not as a means of deterrence or vengeance. In this case, the guy was responsible for the deaths of multiple people, so I've got no problem with it.

But I would not support execution for the Jim Black type of corruption. Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison yes.

7/10/2007 11:46:00 AM

bobby, my comment was more aimed at the time it took, not a comment on capital punishment in general. If we are set on using it, then we should use it effectively. The way it is now is hardly a deterant. By the time they are executed, most people have forgotten thier crime. WHere as with this food thing, people are shocked. I bet the next guy doesnt do the same thing...which is how capital punishment is supposed to work.

7/10/2007 11:55:36 AM

I say his actions were tantamount to treason and murder so gg China.

7/10/2007 12:17:35 PM

7/10/2007 12:44:19 PM

this event is playing with my emotions

7/10/2007 2:22:25 PM

Dealing drugs is an executable offense as well.

7/10/2007 3:05:44 PM

Yea, I think the Chinese got that one right.

7/10/2007 3:12:06 PM

yeah, we're fucking pussies for allowing our citizens time to appeal their sentance

7/10/2007 6:36:04 PM

They need to start doing this with corrupt and/or incompetent Bush appointees.

7/10/2007 8:13:44 PM

Was he really responsible? How does anyone know that? Is he just a fall guy for the Chinese Government? Maybe he lost favor with those in power in the Communist Party. He just happens to get this sentence now... a bit suspicious.

7/10/2007 8:24:46 PM

lol if he is the fall guy that sucks

our fall guy gets pardoned

their fall guy gets killed

7/10/2007 8:47:18 PM

Quote :

"Dealing drugs is an executable offense as well."

Actually, it's an executable offense in other Eastern Asian nations as well. If you deal "hard" drugs on a large scale, it's considered murder and is thus an executable offense.

Quote :

"Is he just a fall guy for the Chinese Government?"

I think so. If they were serious about cleaning up this mess, they would have brought in the executives of the drug companies as well. This is symbolic to pacify critics, nothing more.

As for capital punishment and corruption, given the number of officials executed and the current rate of corruption in China, I don't think its doing that nation much good in terms of curbing graft.

7/10/2007 11:13:45 PM

^ Yes, but, they are curbing something else that China desperately needs to curb: population.

7/11/2007 8:43:49 AM