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BEIJING (AP) -- China on Tuesday executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog who had become a symbol of the country's wide-ranging problems on product safety.

Zheng Xiaoyu's execution was confirmed by state television and the official Xinhua News Agency.

Zheng was sentenced to death in May for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines. Cao was given a death sentence last month with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes and dereliction of duty.

Zheng's death sentence was unusually heavy even for China, believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, and likely indicates the leadership's determination to confront the country's dire product safety record.

Yan said the food and drug administration was working to tighten its safety procedures and create a more transparent operating environment. But the administration acknowledged that its supervision of food and drug safety is unsatisfactory and that it has been slow to tackle the problem, but vowed to improve.

Chinese officials already have said the country faces social unrest and a further tarnished image abroad unless it improves the quality and safety of its food and medicine.

The industry regulator, the State Food and Drug Administration, has announced a series of measures to tighten safety controls and closed factories where illegal chemicals or other problems were found.

China also has stepped up its inspections of imported products and said some U.S. products are not safe.

郑筱萸是原药监局局长，因贪污受贿被一审判处死刑。网上 也一片喊杀声。有的同学也持此观点。但我不以为然 ，并因此而产生一些对有关死刑问题的思考：
1、果处死一 个郑筱萸就再也不会发生类似的事情，到此为止，
或者更广泛地讲，能够解决贪污腐败问题，则我同意杀。如果不 能，则应刀下留人。
2、有人认为“杀无赦” ，“乱世用重典”，或“治世用重典”。其实都不能彻底解决问题 。杀了成克杰解决问题了吗？杀了胡长清解决 问题了吗？制度的腐败是最严重的腐败，应该从根本上源头上找原因 。当然应当标本兼治，但治标不一定要杀人 。
3、人类社会的发展过程是向文明向民主的方向发展。废除死刑是 最终的目标，在不能废除死刑之前，应该 逐渐减少死刑，这是大方向。政治犯不能杀，经济犯一般也不能杀，渎职 犯也不应该杀。
4、一旦处死，所有 线索到此中断，有没有“杀人灭口”的嫌疑。
5、假如以后发现这是误判 ，或者虽然不是误判，但是判刑偏重 ，一旦处死，将无法改正和挽回。
6、所谓“民愤极大”，“不杀不足以平 民愤”，这绝不能作为量刑标准和 依据。民愤是可以煽动起来的。“走资派”的民愤大不大？“地富反坏右”的民 愤大不大？
7、处理重大问题 ，应该站在五十年甚至一百年后的立场上来看这样的处理是否恰当，这样才是理智 的，冷静的。什么是“重大问 题”，人命关天，这就是“人权”的含义之一。
8、出了许多假药，使许多人致伤 、致残、致死。郑筱萸责无 旁贷要负责任，甚至重大责任或主要责任，但是否要负全部责任和一切责任，是值得讨 论的。
9、出了许多假 药，难道在新药出来之前的专家组，评审组就没有一点责任？如果有责任的话，那么郑筱 萸就不是全部责任和一 切责任。
10、如果专家组，评审组有责任，那么需要不需要追究？凡是在鉴定书上签了 字的，都应站出来讲 话，给个说法，姑且不谈这些人是否拿了评审费好处费之类的问题，从对病人人道主义的角度 ，他们都应当这么 做。这样才能真正做到引以为戒。
11、死刑过多，反而会减轻死刑的威慑

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