To many Americans, the execution last week of China’s former top food and drug official after he confessed to taking bribes was an extreme reaction by the Beijing government to growing worries about the safety of Chinese exports.
After recalls of everything from toothpaste and tires to pet food and toy trains, China’s leaders decided to make an example of Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, whose punishment came just six weeks after he was found guilty. Indeed, Senator Charles Schumer of New York, a leading critic of China, called it a “surreal response.”
But several people died from the tainted products. And China is not alone in treating corruption as a capital offense.
For instance, Vietnam occasionally imposes the death penalty. In 2006, the government executed Phung Long That, a former anti-smuggling investigator in Ho Chi Minh City, for accepting bribes and helping to smuggle roughly $70 million worth of goods.
See full Article.
Posts
