Zheng Xiaosong

Zheng Xiaosong (Chinese: 郑晓松; September 1959 – 20 October 2018) was a Chinese politician and diplomat. He was Director of the Macau Liaison Office, a ministerial-level position, until he fell to his death from his residence in October 2018. He formerly served as Deputy Director of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Vice Governor of Fujian Province, and secretary-general[n 1] of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zheng.
Zheng Xiaosong
郑晓松
Director of the Macau Liaison Office
In office
September 2017 – 20 October 2018
PremierLi Keqiang
Preceded byWang Zhimin
Succeeded byFu Ziying
Secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party's Fujian Provincial Committee[n 1]
In office
April 2016 – June 2016
Party SecretaryYou Quan
Preceded byYe Shuangyu
Succeeded byLiang Jianyong
Director of the International Department of the Chinese Ministry of Finance
In office
2007 – April 2012
MinisterXie Xuren
Preceded byZhu Guangyao
Succeeded byZou Jiayi
Personal details
BornSeptember 1959
Beijing, China
DiedOctober 20, 2018(2018-10-20) (aged 59)
Sé, Macau, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Alma materUniversity of Oslo
University of Oxford
OccupationPolitician
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese鄭曉松
Simplified Chinese郑晓松

Zheng was a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party[1] and a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress.[2]

Life and career

Zheng was born in September 1959 in Beijing, China. He graduated from the University of Oslo with a degree in Norwegian language and received diplomatic training at the University of Oxford from 1996 to 1997.[3][2]

For most of his career Zheng served in diplomatic and international finance positions, including first-grade secretary of the Western Europe Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the International Department of the Chinese Ministry of Finance, Assistant Finance Minister, and Chinese Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank.[3][2]

Zheng was promoted to major political posts after Party General Secretary Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. He was appointed Vice Governor of Fujian Province in July 2013, and later became a member of the standing committee and secretary-general[n 1] of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[3][5][6]

In 2016, Zheng was transferred back to Beijing to serve as Deputy Director of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[3][7] A month before the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he was promoted to Director of the Macau Liaison Office, a ministerial-level[3] position in charge of relations between the central government and the Macau Special Administrative Region.[8] He was elected as a member of the 19th Central Committee of the CCP.[3]

Death

On 20 October 2018, Zheng died in Macau after falling from a tall building where he lived.[9][5][10] He was 59. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing issued a statement saying that he had suffered from depression, with the implication that he had committed suicide.[9][5] On Chinese social media many expressed concern and sadness about his depression, but others noted that at least 7 other Chinese officials have fallen from buildings this year, with one injured and at least 6 dead.[3] Although there is no evidence that Zheng was suspected of corruption, in recent years hundreds of mid-level Chinese officials accused of corruption have died, reportedly by suicide, although observers have doubted such accounts.[11][12][13]

Zheng died just days before the 23 October opening of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea crossing linking Macau and Hong Kong.[5][3] Bruce Lui Ping-kuen, convener of Hong Kong's Independent Commentators Association, claimed that in order to avoid speculation that might disturb Party General Secretary Xi Jinping's visit for the opening of the bridge, Beijing had been too quick to conclude that Zheng had died while suffering from depression, a conclusion they announced even before the completion of the investigation by the Macao police.[13] Such reported suicides have been much more common during Xi's leadership than during that of his predecessor Hu Jintao.[13] The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which announced that his death had been due to depression, has been investigated for corruption since 2016 by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and criticized by it for its "six sins", and other Hong Kong and Macao official organizations have also been suspected of corruption.[13]

Footnotes
  1. This position should not be confused with the similarly-titled but more powerful job of Fujian Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee Secretary (福建省委书记), colloquially termed the "Fujian Party Chief", who was You Quan (尤权) from 2012 to 2017.[4]

References
  1. "List of members of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China" 十九大受权发布：中国共产党第十九届中央委员会委员名单. Xinhuanet (in Chinese). 2017-10-24.
  2. "Zheng Xiaosong, director of the Macau Liaison Office, fell to his death" 澳门中联办主任郑晓松坠楼身亡. Sina (in Chinese). 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  3. "Zheng Xiaosong, director of the Macau Liaison Office, dies from a too-frequent cause" 澳门中联办主任郑晓松坠亡 中国官员坠楼成高频词. BBC News Chinese (in Chinese). 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2018-10-22. (Note: Google translates this title as 'Zheng Xiaosong, director of the Macau Liaison Office, crashed into a high-frequency word')
  4. "You Quan 尤权". China Vitae. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 22 October 2018. 2012—2017 Secretary, CPC, Provincial Committee Fujian Province
  5. Sum, Lok-kei (2018-10-21). "Head of Chinese government's liaison office in Macau dies in fall from home". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  6. "Zheng Xiaosong 郑晓松". China Vitae. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  7. "Zheng Xiaosong, member of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and Secretary-General, was transferred to the Deputy Minister of the Central Joint Department" 福建省委常委、秘书长郑晓松调任中联部副部长. ce.cn (in Chinese). 2016-07-14.
  8. "The main responsible person of the Central Government Liaison Office in Macau adjusted" 中央政府驻澳门联络办公室主要负责人调整. zlb.gov.cn (in Chinese). 2017-09-22.
  9. "China's top Macau official dies in fall". BBC News. 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  10. "Zheng Xiaosong, director of the Macau Liaison Office, fell to his death" 澳门中联办主任郑晓松坠楼身亡. thepaper.cn (in Chinese). 2018-10-21.
  11. "Top Macau official Zheng Xiaosong dead after fall from building". BBC. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018. There is no evidence that Mr Zheng had come under the watch of China's pervasive anti-corruption campaign. However, hundreds of mid-level Chinese officials who had been accused of graft have died in recent years – reportedly by killing themselves, though observers have questioned these accounts.
  12. Shehab Khan (21 October 2018). "China's head representative in Macau dies after falling off building". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 22 October 2018. There is nothing to suggest that Mr Zheng had come under the watch of China's anti-corruption crackdown, although a number of Chinese officials who have done have died in suspicious circumstances. Agencies contributed to this report.
  13. "A depressing tally". The Standard, Hong Kong. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018. Bruce Lui Ping-kuen ... would give Zheng the benefit of the doubt as he had only been in Macau for a year, and there had no gossip about investigations regarding him.
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