Someone famous once asked, “What separates China from the rest of the world?” and then promptly answered, “Accountability.” That author was referring to the Chinese death sentence handed down to the 62 year old top food and drug regulator for taking bribes. Just so you don’t think they were messing around when they said “death,” the guy was executed without fanfare less than 60 days after the sentence was read.
That was in 2007. Not much has changed, well, except some vertical death sentence integration:

The former chairwoman of China’s Sanlu dairy was sentenced to life in prison and three others received death sentences Thursday in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six infants and sickened nearly 300,000 others.
Tian Wenhua and three other Sanlu Group executives were put on trial for producing and selling fake or substandard products after their arrests in late September.
Tian, who pleaded guilty in December, received a life sentence Thursday. Former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi received sentences of 15 and eight years, while Wu Jusheng, a former executive heading Sanlu’s milk division, was sentenced to five years in prison.
In addition, Sanlu, Tian and Wang were ordered to pay multi-million dollar fines.
The court also sentenced three people to death, including a suspended sentence pending a review, and two others to life in prison. Six more received prison terms of five to 15 years each.
A list of sentences handed down by a Chinese court Thursday in China’s tainted milk scandal.
Sanlu Group
– Tian Wenhua, former chairwoman: life, $3.6M fine
– Wang Yuliang, former executive: 15 years, $3.5M
– Hang Zhiqi, former executive: 8 years, $133,000
– Wu Jisheng, former executive, 5 years, $88,000
– Company: $7 million fine
Producers
– Geng Jinping, milk producer: death, assets confiscated
– Geng Jinzhu, milk producer, 8 years, $73,000
Middlemen
– Zhang Yujun: death
– Gao Junjie: death; sentence suspended 2 years pending review
– Zhang Yanzhang: life
– Xue Jianzhong: life
– Zhang Yanjun: 15 years
– Xiao Yu: 5 years
Many of the defendants — including one who received a death sentence — were middlemen who sold melamine to milking stations that added the chemical to the milk.
Parents outside the courthouse were outraged by the sentence that spared Tian’s life. A mother who’s baby died from contaminated milk said she wanted Tian shot to pay for the life of her child.

Make no mistake about it. China does not fuck around.
Try accelerating some bonuses over there and I bet you get your ass handed to you (literally) before you die of massive hypovolemia, have your assets seized, your body boiled down for its essential oils, your children sent off somewhere to be ground up and sold, the proceeds sent to the victims and a bill for processing services sent to your estate with penalties and 8% per month in late fees.
I do have to wonder though, with all this accountability (China has been handing down death sentences like this for some time) why is it that I still can’t get a tube of toothpaste from the place that won’t kill me? (I’ve since switched to Tom’s of Maine). If China can’t eliminate greed (and we are talking naked bribery and corruption here, not someone front running clients or stacking the board with old fraternity brothers) with the liberal use of the death penalty, how exactly is the present administration (or any other) going to stamp it out in the present (semi)capitalist system?
Hint: It can’t.
No my friends. We must learn to harness this great power. Properly refined, a certain otherwise un-noteworthy area in Connecticut could provide enough killogreed-hours to power the entire Northern hemisphere.
Death sentences in China tainted milk case [CNN]