China: Wrong Chicken in the death penalty

Will comments that the death penalty of former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, is a killing of “wrong chicken” that may fail the purpose of scaring the monkeys: was Zheng's execution effective as public communication? This depends who the audience was. If the audience was other senior cadres, possibly, but with qualifications. If the audience was the public, I think not.

2 comments

  • Charles Liu

    Zheng deserved it. My understanding of China’s “parternalistic” government system is, more power means greater accountability. He took bribes and many people died.

    Why don’t you compare this with what’s happening in America, where Bush regime (yes as an American I consider my government illegmate) communicate to the American public by giving little punishment (demotion, repremand, few years in jail) when our military commits atrocities in Iraq like rape teen age girls and massacre entire families.

    When people commit atrocities in my name with my tax dollars I say hang them.

  • thanks for your comment. i think Will is not arguing whether zheng deserves to be hanged or not, but whether the death penalty can serve the purpose of scaring away the monkeys. it is very obvious that zheng has committed very serious crime that caused the death of many people, and i think no one will defend for him on this.

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