Did you hear about the former head of China’s food and drug administration? He took bribes to approve bogus pharmaceuticals, some of which killed people. China just sentenced Zheng to death.

Now THAT is a country that’s serious about quality control.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/health/main2860989.shtml

It looks like the main reason he got the death penalty is that he was bad for business. China doesn’t want to be seen as a country with poor quality control. They figured that being seen as a country that kills thieving political assholes would be seen as more of a positive thing.

They were right!

My immediate reaction to the story was “Why can’t we be more like China?”

Generally, I’m not a huge fan of the death penalty, for purely practical reasons:

1. Death sentences costs tax payers more than life sentences because of the lengthy automatic appeals.

2. Sometimes we convict the wrong guy, as DNA testing has shown.

3. I’d be amazed if the death penalty deterred anyone who was in the frame of mind of committing a heinous crime.

But I’d be willing to make an exception for politicians that take bribes. That sort of behavior threatens the integrity of the entire system. The value is in the signal it sends to the citizens about what the government will tolerate. There’s nothing ambiguous about the death penalty. If I were a Chinese citizen, I’d feel a lot better about the quality of my food and drugs going forward.

I still think democracy is the best form of government. But the Chinese are closing that gap fast.