Rough Justice
China executes its FDA chief. Feel better now?

Saturday, July 14, 2007

THIS WEEK, China executed its former top food and drug regulator, Zheng Xiaoyu, who had been convicted of accepting more than $800,000 in bribes in exchange for helping pharmaceutical companies sidestep regulatory hurdles. The country also sentenced to death another former food and drug regulator accused of being on the take.

Outrage at the officials' misconduct is understandable, as is the desire to send a strong message to Chinese citizens and trading partners alike that corruption and lax oversight will no longer be tolerated. At least 10 people died and dozens more became seriously ill in China after consuming a tainted antibiotic produced by a company that reportedly had bribed Mr. Zheng. Hundreds died in Panama after taking cough syrup that contained an ingredient Chinese manufacturers labeled as innocuous but that turned out to be deadly. Shoddy Chinese regulation has been felt in the United States, where Chinese-produced seafood, toothpaste and pet food have been recalled because of safety concerns.

What would allay the fears of consumers of Chinese products more than the hurried execution of allegedly crooked officials -- Mr. Zheng was sentenced only on May 29 -- would be improved oversight of food and drug production. The Chinese government claims to be moving in that direction, promising to stop production of fake pharmaceuticals in the next five years, pledging to install a food recall system to enable regulators to more quickly pull tainted food off the market, and deploying tens of thousands of additional inspectors to conduct on-site reviews of food and drug manufacturing plants. These are all good steps and should be seen through to fruition. But they won't inspire full confidence until they are ensconced in a larger system of rule of law, in which judges can function independently of the Communist Party, prosecutors are removed from politics, and reporters who expose corruption are not hounded and jailed.