How China is dealing with the pet/people poisons in its products.

It might sound harsh, but at least corrupt businessmen and their handmaidens in government are held accountable. Here' if you lie, steal, or kill you get a Medal of Freedom.

http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=432063&lng=1

China executes former civil servant

China has executed the former head of its Drugs and Food Safety Agency, Zheng Xiaoyu as it seeks to clean up the increasingly tarnished "Made in China" brand. Increasing quantities of fake or adulterated products are coming onto the domestic, and export market. From poisonous toothpaste or pet food to deadly brake pads or drugs, Chinese industry is cutting corners in its dash for cash, and allegedly bribing officials like Xiayou to turn a blind eye.

That will no longer be the case says the agency's deputy director, Sun Wenxu: "All the relevant departments within the state agency have been subject to thorough quality checks to ensure food safety during the Olympic Games". With almost twenty percent of all consumer goods testing substandard in the first half of 2007, China fears its flagship event next year could be heavily discredited. In the longer term Beijing fears a big health scandal with heavy loss of life, and a collapse in consumer confidence.

I'd say it is harsh. They probably sold his kidney and charged his family for the bullets too.

the death penalty. Saying that, those officials needed to be punished. Life in prison would have been preferable, and in fact one of those found guilty might have his death sentence commuted to life.

It does not allow one to learn from one's mistake.

This is monstrous.

Tampering with food supplies, taking bribes to allow others to tamper with food supplies SHOULD be punishable by death, because death is what it brings.

I'm against the death penalty in all cases, because it cancels out the very logic that seeks to preserve life,
however in this case, the punishment is monstrous. Was his intent to poison babies and animals? The Chinese government's intent was to kill him.

HUMAN food was poisoned. That warrants punishment in the EXTREME or it will happen again and again. Lots of INNOCENT people may have died.

Not a wrist slapping crime by a long shot. Criminals in board rooms and the exec suite need to be taken out if they are willing to poison food supply with the INTENT of a bit more profit.

They cane children there for breaking windows.

There was no clear INTENT TO KILL SOMEONE. You can guess all you like. You can pop-off all you like,
but if you honestly had a gun to that man's head and would (based on the things he had done, no matter
how horrendous they were) shoot and kill him, then you're a bigger menace to society than he is.

We have to set apart our emotions from the rule of law. We HAVE to. It's the only way justice is done.

and try to make OUR justice here work better. ;)

Rule of law, yes, but YOU don't get to make the rules. I can accept that. Can you?

and he didn't give a flying fuck who he killed or injured in the process. I'm opposed to the death penalty in principle, but I don't think it's wildly disproportionate in this instance.

... if the man was in fact guilty of the crimes claimed (and unfortunately we'll never know because there was no real trial) then the death penalty is in no way too extreme. His actions could have led to the deaths of many, and were motivated by simple greed.

Nah, the crime was pretty damned bad.

Intent is everything. Was his intent to poison babies and animals? The Chinese government's intent was to kill him.
Sorry, even as someone whose family members lost two pets to the Melamine madness, I still say
this is cold-blooded murder.

Same as Cheney. Shall we slap them on the wrists for being capitalists who happened to leave dead people in their wake on the way to the bank?

Intent is everything? HOGWASH! A drunk driver just intends to get home from the bar. If he maims and kills we should just pat him on the head for his INTENT to get home?

bullshit!

I thought I was in a forum for liberals.

NO, we don't give them a slap on the wrist but are you HONESTLY in favor of the damned death penalty for
a person who drives drunk and kills someone accidentally????

:rofl:

That is a bit too much like bush*s 'yer either with us or with the terrarists' thinking. Totally without merit.

>Totally without merit.

That's the Aristotelian contention that is totally without merit. You're the one participating in
extremist rhetoric in favor of killing people with whom you disagree.

Frankly, I think you're best put on ignore. I'm glad I don't live near you. I'd hate to see what
would happen if my dog accidentally walked on your geraniums.

And I am not the one wrapped around the axle that another country has their own laws.

Please put me on ignore because if you don't do logic, dealing with me will be a trial.

... not all "liberals" have the same knee-jerk reaction on every issue in every circumstance.

The man made a premeditated decision to put lives at risk for monetary gain. That is WORSE than many crimes that qualify for the death penalty in this country.

I understand blanket opposition to the death penalty. And I can respect that. But this crime easily qualifies IMHO simply because of completely disregard for the lives of many.

And BTW, I would NOT generally support the death penalty for a drunk driver who killed. GENERALLY. If this was the second time, maybe I would.

I can't believe I'm reading posts from so-called progressives who are in favor of
the murder of a man who didn't consciously choose to kill someone. I'm stunned. I
expect this kind of thing from freeperland. How do you know he did any of this? How do
you know he's not the fall guy in this? The man who is the head of a toy company that cheats on
R&D and, as a result a child dies, do we take this make out and shoot him in the head? What
kind of person does something like that, never mind what the man did in the first place?

Chinese-version of a Bushista took bribes to short-circuit product safety.

In general, I am against the death penalty. Except in the case of corporate criminals and corruption. In cases like this one, the greed above humanity must be stopped. Until business-people learn that THEY will suffer consequences for their actions, there will never be justice. Simple fines (paid by company dollars) just do not make it.

Was his intent to poison babies and animals? The Chinese government's intent was to kill him.
Sorry, even as someone whose family members lost two pets to the Melamine madness, I still say
this is cold-blooded murder.

I'm stunned that, on a supposedly liberal forum, I'm having to argue against the Chinese government
killing a man for what would be, in a European country (and the US is one), a mid-level offense.

:rofl:

This one post underscored the necessity to put you on ignore. You're not only
governed solely by emotion, you strike me as more than a little dangerous.

:rofl:

edited to add: Since YOU are the one telling us all what the law is all about, I figured you must have pretty impressive law degrees.

If you knowingly take cash to allow people to put deadly poisons in food products and hundreds die, that makes you an accessory.
He willingly, knowingly, helped murder hundreds of people.
While the death sentence is always wrong, I find it very hard to stretch 'monstrous' to cover his execution.
Perhaps zealous might fit?

The mentality and environment in which this practice is allowed to occur needs to be fixed. It's like cleaning a swamp. You don't swat at the mosquitoes. You drain it.

was punished, it would be a hourly worker on an assembly line somewhere.

rationalize this barbaric action

:hurts: :hangover: :dunce: :spank:

penalty, but you will few who had sympathy for the executed official. He knew he could be put to death for corrupt practices, but he did it anyway. If he was executed because he was fighting for freedom, that would be completely different. This guy was willing to kill scores of people for a pocket full of gold.

The people of China will have to step up and demand an end to the death penalty, same goes for the US.

His superiors knew exactly what he was doing, advancing the economy by any means necessary. He was being punished for the bad publicity.

A speaker came to our church to speak about his experiences delivering aid in china. They showed up at a village in a very rural area to deliver some food and the village was gone, razed to the ground. Apparently, there were a few cases of bird fiu in the area.

The gov't came in, killed all of the animals and refused to say where the people were, if they were still alive at all. There isn't a person STILL who knows.

this wasn't justice served, this was getting somebody who had embarassed the party bosses out of the way as expeditiously as possible. True justice doesn't exist in China.

China is one f-ed up place right now. The so-called "Communist" nation is ruled by overly powerful, unelected, capitalist thugs and they will do everything in their power to maintain a tight grip on the power.

This person should have been held accountable, yes, but not executed. And I wonder how "fair" the trial was? Seems to me it was yet another show trial so they can quickly get him to the conveyor belt.

What was it again? Absolute power corrupts absolutely?

that got him executed.