Just imagine if leaders in our country were held to the same level of accountability as Zheng Xiaoyu, China’s erstwhile top food and drug regulator.
Xiaoyu, who was found guilty of taking bribes to approve untested medicine, was executed on Tuesday. The move was taken by the Chinese government in an attempt to improve its global image after a series of blunders that have caused the deaths of humans and pets alike.
While the sentence was a tad harsh, one would have to believe it sent a definite message to Mr. Xiaoyu’s successor (and to anyone else holding a position of power in China).
Imagine for just one minute if we had stricter standards of accountability here. While I’m not advocating for the death penalty, it does bother me to think about individuals ranging from OJ Simpson and ex FEMA Chief Mike Brown to Dick Grasso and Bob Nardelli running around footloose and fancy free (and, in Grasso’s and Nardelli’s cases, enjoying their hundreds of millions of dollars in severance pay).
There has to be a happy medium between the fates of Zheng Xiaoyu and Dick Grasso. And, the sooner we figure it out, the sooner we’ll start rebuilding our country’s image and reputation, here and abroad.
Although, the term “found guilty” is a phrase associated with western legal culpability and it is generally inappropriate to associate with the Chinese system of justice, well said Mr. Repman! In China, “trials” are perfunctory; the party’s decision is based solely on the interests of the party. Ironically, the forgoing philosophy is what motivated mister Zheng (first name is the surname) to maximize his wealth and accordingly, the wealth of the party. Zheng’s misfortune is that he was the most visible individual when a series of “soiled”-stained fans came to light (Thomas the train, pet food, etc.). Zheng hurt the party; Bye, bye Zheng. Maybe, as you intimated, we need a similar sort of attitude stateside—[blank]hurt the party, bye bye [fill in the blank].