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[umiman]

Two men have been given the death penalty for their involvement in China's contaminated milk scandal.

The former boss of the Sanlu dairy at the centre of the scandal was given life imprisonment.

They are among 21 sentences being handed down by the court in northern China, where Sanlu is based.

The scandal, in which melamine was added to raw milk to make it appear higher in protein, led to the deaths of six babies and made some 300,000 ill.

It caused outrage in China and has tainted the image of the country's food industry both at home and abroad.

Illegal workshop

One of the most eagerly-awaited sentences was that of Tian Wenhua, who was general manager of the Sanlu Group, which sold tainted baby milk powder.

She had already pleaded guilty to charges of producing and selling fake or substandard produce, and was given a life sentence by the Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang.

Earlier the court sentenced Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping to death.

Zhang Yujun was accused of running an illegal workshop in Shandong province in eastern China, producing 600 tonnes of the fake protein powder - the largest source of melamine in the country.

Geng Jinping was convicted of producing and selling toxic food to dairy companies, Xinhua news agency reports.

His associate Geng Jinzhu was given eight years in prison.

Zhang Yanzhang, who was accused of selling on protein powder produced by Zhang Yujun, was given a life sentence.

Gao Junjie received a suspended death sentence, Xinhua said.

Source

Opinion:
Do you believe in the death sentence? The Chinese have a saying, "punish one to warn a hundred". I remember reading a Singaporean children's storybook detailing that saying, where it (the children's storybook) detailed a story on how one dissenter was publicly executed in front of an angry mob to scare them off and turn them back into "good, respectful citizens". If there are any Singaporeans here, it was part of the Bookworms series.

Anyway, while I usually agree with capital punishment (I'm on the side of the fence that it isn't used enough), I don't think it's going to do any good here. Simply, it won't resolve any of the existing damages, it won't bring back the dead babies, and I don't think it would be enough to deter any future actions of the sort. If anything, the perpetrators are probably the ones who would never do such a thing again. I think that forcing them to provide free milk for an extended duration would be a far more fitting punishment.

Though this isn't the same thing as my desire to see more child molesters, rapists, and idiots executed.

[Martian]

I don't think it's going to do any good here. Simply, it won't resolve any of the existing damages, it won't bring back the dead babies, and I don't think it would be enough to deter any future actions of the sort.

But in this case it serves very well to show the world that China takes the crime very seriously. Which helps people trust Chinese products again.

[Aqizzar]

On the one hand, China terrifies me with their systematic depopulation/fundraising program of doling out the death penalty for stealing a pen from the post office and selling the convicts' organs.

On the other hand, I have to respect China for making managers who authorize illegal activity or bad business practices fear for their lives.  China has been hit by the economic recession as well, and a lot of government analysts and managers have lost their heads.  I'm always pleased to hear that the health-destroying crap products producers get axed as well.

[A_Fey_Dwarf]

Hehe, it has been covered up really well but this is partially NZ's fault. Sanlu was 43% owned by Kiwi dairy company, Fonterra. They actually knew about the contamination before the government was alerted. Fonterra tried to stop the distribution of the contaminated milk but the Chinese administrators refused.

On topic I agree with Martian, the death penalty was rightly used as what these people are doing is essentially the murder babies and poisoning of many more.

[JoshuaFH]

I'm gonna have to agree with Fey_dwarf on this one also. Purposefully putting a harmful chemical that you know for a fact is going to be distributed to the public is a monstrously evil act. He might as well have killed those babies himself.

Aqizzar, Can I ask you to elaborate on your point? I don't quite understand you fully.

[Warlord255]

Yea, if it were me, I'd say get the mothers of the poisoned infants and let them be the firing squad.

Full auto, of course.

[PTTG??]

I'm going to say that frankly, I was expecting more than just 2 and a half death sentences. I was kind of expecting the entire eastern hemisphere's milk production line to be executed.

And really, if you had someone who knowingly poisoned six infants to make a few thousand dollars, then you can expect this level of response. In most cases I'm against the death penalty, and I'm not rooting for it here, but it certainly will send a message.