Well, maybe not the death part for some but an important conviction.
China's former drug head sentenced to death
(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-05-29 10:15
Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was given death penalty at first instance in a Beijing court Tuesday morning.
Zheng was convicted on charges of taking bribes and dereliction of duty, according to the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
Zheng Xiaoyu looked haggard and despondent as a pair of court security officers clapped a pair of handcuffs on him following the verdict announcement in footage aired by state television.
Zheng, 62, took five million yuan (US$650,000) in bribes to grant approvals on hundreds of medicines and turned a blind eye to malpractices by relatives and subordinate officials, according to earlier investigation.
Zheng was appointed director of the drug watchdog when it was set up in 1998. He was the head of a pharmaceutical factory in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, until 1994. He was removed from his post in June, 2005.
Zheng had 23 years of experience manufacturing pharmaceuticals in the eastern city of Hangzhou before being appointed head of the drug administration when it was created in 1998, Central China Television said in its report.
In his powerful position, Zheng oversaw safety approvals for food and drugs, but during his tenure the country's entire quality-control systems have been called into question due to incidents ranging from bogus drugs to chemical-tainted food.
One firm named in the Zheng investigation, Kongliyuan Group, is alleged to have given Zheng bribes in return for approvals for 277 medicines, most of them high-profit antibiotics, according to previous state media reports.
It was not immediately known whether he planned to appeal.
The sentence comes as lax controls over the safety of foodstuffs, drugs and other consumer goods have catapulted to the top of the national agenda following a series of public health scares from Chinese-made products.
The sentence could be a sign of China's determination to head off growing concern, both domestic and international, over the safety fears.
China this month announced it would dramatically tighten its nationwide quality control systems. In the latest step, a top official with the China's quality control watchdog said a new food product recall regulation would be completed by year-end.
It would target goods deemed to pose a health risk and apply to foreign and domestic companies, said Wu Jianping, a director-general with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Zheng's former secretary Cao Wenzhuang, who is accused of accepting bribes totalling two million yuan, was facing trial along with Zheng.
Earlier reports also said 31 other people were alleged to have been involved in the scandal, including Zheng's wife Liu Naixue, his son Zheng Hairong, and officials at several drug companies.