A letter written by the disgraced former head of China's drug watchdog Zheng Xiaoyu shortly before his execution in July is being used to warn local government officials against corruption.
Zheng's letter titled " Posthumous Writings of Remorse" was read to prosecutors in Bozhou city, Anhui Province, at a routine meeting recently to encourage the legal officials to draw lessons from the case and maintain an honest work ethic, Friday's Procuratorial Daily reports.
The newspaper quoted Zheng's letter as saying the drug standards agency and the position he held were "extremely important".
"As an official, one must be responsible," the letter continued, according to the newspaper, "(the death sentence) let me see thoroughly and clearly the anti-graft resolution of the central authorities."
After reading out the letter, Tao Fangde, chief prosecutor of Bozhou, told the city's prosecutors to "maintain a high sense of responsibility, stay away from corruption and remain committed to investigating and dealing with corruption cases".
Zheng, 63, was sentenced to death on May 29 by the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court after being found guilty of taking 6.49 million yuan (850,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes and dereliction of duty.
He appealed for leniency in a second hearing on June 12. But the Higher People's Court of Beijing rejected Zheng's appeal on June 22 and upheld the death sentence. Zheng's death sentence was then approved by the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
"Zheng's dereliction of duty has undermined the efficiency of China's drug monitoring and supervision, endangered public life and health and has had a very negative social impact," the SPC said at the time.
Zheng was the country's fourth senior official of his rank to be sentenced to death in recent years, following former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Cheng Kejie and two former provincial deputy governors Hu Changqing and Wang Huaizhong. Cheng and Hu were sentenced in 2000 and Wang was sentenced in 2004.
Source: Xinhua
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