People are getting ****ed and heads are rolling.
This is the latest in a string of officials to be executed for massive corruption. I predicted this would happen after the melamine fiasco hit however it appears that, in this case, it was other matters that led to his demise.
Still this latest execution is merely Beijing making a show of discouraging the culture of corruption which has descimated china's social millieu.
Right now, in China, it is commonplace for people to buy jobs, frequently for as much as a decade's salary, because the position is one where both the official non-monetary benefits and (more relevantly) the opportunity for kickbacks are so great that they outweigh the cost.
The fact that jobs are going to the highest bidder rather than the most qualified exacerbates the situation.
The Chinese public is becoming highly dissatisfied with this corruption. The fact is that the much (inappropriately) lauded Deng Xiaoping dragged China away from the iron rice bowl and into capitalism without providing any actual freedom in exchange for the loss of pseudo-communist security. This has made corruption worse (and it was BAD before) as the only rights Chinese people seem to have are property rights! When EVERYBODY is taking bribes so they can buy a new car, a flashier phone or a more elaborate set of living room furniture is it any surprise that people who can only fully express themselves through what they buy, who have become consumers rather than citizens, decide to get in on the action?
What China MUST deal with NOW if they wish to survive and to continue to grow is the ENDEMIC bribe taking and corruption that permeates EVERY walk of life from private business, to schools to government.
If it isn't dealt with soon mark my words...
More heads will roll.
With equal likelihood that it is at the behest of the powers in Beijing or at the behest of those who will replace them.