Crackpot Chronicles

"He was found to have used most of his money to try to bribe investigators into dropping an investigation..." qualifying him for a Crackpot dishonorable discharge award.

China is doling out the death penalty for corruption, smuggling and other crimes against its credibility and fiscal stability these days. This article is from China Daily, the English edition of which is freely distributed to the foreign teachers at the China Foreign Affairs University, where my husband and I are teaching this year. The sincerity of how China is emerging as a 21st century power is outdone only by the speed at which this is being accomplished, something we witness daily. This crackpot hit the jackpot--the ultimate sentence.

China Daily 12/30/2003 (page1)

Official gets death penalty
GUO NEI, China Daily staff

The Intermediate People's Court in Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong Province, yesterday sentenced a former provincial vice-governor to death for accepting bribes and holding large amounts of assets he could not account for.

Wang Huaizhong, a former vice-governor of East China's Anhui Province, is the latest in a string of officials convicted in China as part of an intensified campaign against corruption.

"In the face of irrefutable evidence, he indulged in sophistry in every possible way and refused to admit guilt," Xinhua News Agency quoted the court as saying. "His attitude was disgusting and he was severely punished in accordance with the law."

The court convicted Wang of accepting bribes totalling 5.17 million yuan (US$623,000) between September 1994 and March 2001. Wang was unable to account for another 4.8 million yuan (US$578,000) in assets seized by the authorities. He was found to have used most of his money to try to bribe investigators into dropping an investigation. Wang, who was taken into custody in April 2001 and expelled from the Communist Party in September this year, has 10 days to appeal.

...snip...

Lu was expelled from the Party and his case transferred to a judicial department for further investigation, the provincial disciplinary committee said.

...snip...

"These measures show the determination of the new generation leadership to fight corruption and change the bureaucratic styles," Xinhua quoted an official with the central disciplinary authority as saying. Experts said authorities have been increasing the transparency of the anti-graft campaign by publicizing details of the cases to the media.