Executions in the news
Patrick O'Neil, on the Teaching Comparative Politics group page at facebook, offered this observation on the report of the execution of a former official in China:"What this always reminds me of is that in China, in the absence of the rule of law, the state relies on sporadic crackdowns and executions as a way to enforce compliance. It's evidence more of a weak state than a strong one--a state that needs to shoot people to maintain order is not very powerful."
The same probably applies to Iran, where an execution made news and someone in the government promised more.
Would your students be able to explain the logic behind those assertions?
Melody Dickison referred me to this article from the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
China to focus on small food producers
"China's food and drug agency announced stricter rules Wednesday for approving new drugs, a day after its former head was executed for accepting bribes to approve untested medicine...
"China is struggling to salvage its reputation as a safe exporter...
"China also told small-scale producers to renovate their operations to meet hygiene standards or be shut down... China's small-scale food producers have been accused of unsanitary production conditions, using tainted or substandard ingredients and failing to register with authorities...
"China did not specify how it defines a small-scale producer, or give other details...
"Amid such concerns, the execution of Zheng Xiaoyu, who headed the State Food and Drug Administration from 1997 to 2005, was the strongest indication yet of Beijing's determination to improve product safety..."
And the New York Times reported that, "Executions Are Under Way in Iran for Adultery and Other Violations."
"The Iranian government confirmed Tuesday that a man was executed by stoning last week for committing adultery, and said that 20 more men would be executed in the coming days on morality violations.
"The police arrested about 1,000 people in May during a so-called morality crackdown. [A judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi] said 15 more men were being tried on similar charges and could receive death sentences..."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:02 AM
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