Chinese officials' binge drinking takes its toll

Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, July 20, 2009 - 10:05 AM Share

In the last two weeks, two senior Chinese officials have been hospitalized for binge drinking, one of them fatally:

Jin Guoqing, a district deputy director of water resources in Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province, fell unconscious while entertaining guests at an official banquet last week and died on the way to the hospital, the official China Daily said.

Hospital records indicated the 47-year-old's excessive drinking triggered a fatal heart attack, the English-language newspaper said.

Also last week, Lu Yanpeng, a district chief in southern Guangdong province, fell into a coma after drinking heavily while having dinner with a local Communist Party chief. Lu was rushed to a hospital, where he remains unconscious, the paper said.

"Drinking with official guests or other officials at alcohol-soaked events is considered part of the job," Professor Li Changyan of Peking University was quoted as saying. Li said banquets are a mandatory exercise in welcoming VIPs and are usually covered by government funds. 

I'd be curious to see some data -- though I suspect it would be near impossible to come by -- on the relationship between quality of governance and alchoholism among government officials. The fact that this level of excess is tolerated -- and in some cases even encouraged -- is not a promising sign for the Communist Party's professionalism.

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TORTMASTER

10:21 AM ET

July 20, 2009

I'd be curious to see some

I'd be curious to see some data about the quality of the alcohol consumed that led to the fatalities.

 

HOLLEYA

5:04 PM ET

July 22, 2009

It's nothing to do with the professionalism of the CPC...

That's just how buisness happens in China. You are expected and encouraged to drink. That's just how it is. It's heavier in Chinese-Chinese meetings than any involving Westerners.

Which makes comments like "is not a promising sign for the Communist Party's professionalism." quite... unneccessary.

 

KEERATI

2:51 PM ET

August 18, 2009

That seems

That seems to be a problem. Bad news, one of them is dead. social bookmarking

 

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