China's Latest Scapegoat

I don't find anyone much discussing the latest example of China's unique approach to dealing with individual and national misdeeds (let's call them both "greed") and face saving in the eyes of the International community (let's call this propaganda).

In the past, we've heard described capitalism with Chinese characteristics (i.e. "the marriage between unchecked power and ill-gotten wealth" [1]), Christianity with Chinese characteristics (i.e. the Three-Self Church), and the Internet with Chinese characteristics (Lenovo and Dell hardware running a lot of pirated software, with Free-World based companies Yahoo and Google teaming with China's own Baidu, etc. to spy on Chinese netizens and censor Internet content that the dictators in Beijing consider a threat to their grip on power).

Recently we have been reminded of justice with Chinese characteristics (i.e. when the world is questioning the safety of your exports, find a scape goat and execute him. Yeah, that'll show 'em who's boss and just how serious you take the matter AND by the way, remember Tienanmen). Blogger John E. Carey calls the latest example of justice with Chinese characteristics (though he does not use that phrase) cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, in the People's Republic of China, though cruel, it is not unusual.

[1] The dark side of China's dazzling economic boom, by Minxin Pei, Commentary, SF Chronicle

China: Guilty Again of Cruel and Unusual Punishment

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
July 10, 2007

China’s state television and the official Xinhua News Agency said that China had executed Zheng Xiaoyu the former State Food and Drug Administration director.

Zheng Xiaoyu managed China’s operation to review and approve food and drugs from 1998 until 2005.

During Zheng’s tenure his agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fake, and the drug-makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, according to previous state media reports. One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.

Photo courtesy of Xinhua.

Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking cash and gifts worth $832,000 when he was in charge of the State Food and Drug Administration.

At the time of his conviction, nearly all China watchers predicted that his sentence would be downgraded to life imprisonment, which is frequently the practice in such cases. In fact, in recent memory, there are no known senior officials that actually met their executioners even after a death sentence.

This execution was a needless act of cruelty to assuage the fears of the west about Chinese-made products and to “save face” for the Chinese leadership.

Listen to how China’s government spokesman characterized the execution.

“The few corrupt officials of the SFDA are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems,” agency spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a news conference held to highlight efforts to improve China’s track record on food and drug safety.

SFDA stands for the State Food and Drug Administration.

So China, to lesson its own shame and to regain its market share, heartlessly executed a bureaucrat whose crime was looking the other way for less than a million dollars.

We deplore this killing as a needless and wonton abuse of human rights. This one man is not the cause or source of China’s massive breakdown of proper procedures, checks and balances. His death adds nothing to China’s reputation and does nothing to restore western confidence in China’s products.

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