China sentenced a former top parliamentary official to death yesterday for taking bribes of almost $5 million in what is seen as a clear, but not necessarily convincing, message it is getting tough on government corruption.
Cheng Kejie, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, was sentenced by a Beijing court at a public hearing, the official Xinhua news agency said.
If the sentence is carried out, he would be the most senior Chinese official to be executed for corruption since the Communist Party took power in 1949. Most death sentences are carried out with a bullet to the back of the head.
"The crimes he committed as a senior official seriously damaged the normal working order of government institutions, tarnished the clean and honest image of government workers and discredited the fine reputation of government officials, and thus should be harshly dealt with by law," Xinhua said.
Cheng, in his late 60's, has 10 days to appeal but sentences are almost never overturned on appeal.
As head of the government in the south-west region of Guangxi - a hotbed of smugglers and drug dealers on the border with Vietnam - Cheng took 41 million yuan in bribes in collaboration with his mistress between 1992 and 1998, Xinhua said.
In exchange, he used his powers to sell state land cheaply, grant development contracts and commodities quotas, and offer colleagues promotions, state media have said.