Die you corrupt official!

For the second time in just 3 months, China has sentenced one of its government officials to death for corruption (you can refer here for an article about the first instance). On the face of it, this may seem like harsh punishment. However, was the sentence justified? Obviously, there are a whole raft of arguments in support of banning capital punishment - so many in fact that I don't intend to go over them here.

The official in question was a high ranking official at China's State Food and Drug Administration. This is the body that approves new drugs for distribution on the market. One of the things the article mentions is that over the course of just 3 months, a team of 12 people approved over 14,000 drugs.

Clearly, these people had very little regard to the health and wellbeing of other people.

Sitting here impassionately, I can almost understand the argument in support of banning capital punishment. However, I can't help but think - what if someone I knew and loved took some Chinese medicine and died as a result of it? Could I be so dispassionate then? Or would I be clamoring for the death penalty for the person responsible?

The honest answer is that I don't know. I don't know if I could be the "bigger" person and forgive in that situation. I don't know if capital punishment should be banned. More importantly, I hope I never have to find out.

However, one thing which does "cheer me up" is that, at the very least, China officials seem to be taking the issue of food and drug quality very seriously. Two top ranking officials sentenced to death in just 3 months - a very clear signal to everyone else in China.