{"id":91029,"date":"2018-10-23T09:30:23","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T16:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=91029"},"modified":"2018-10-23T10:07:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T17:07:39","slug":"beijings-top-man-in-macau-dies-in-suicide-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/beijings-top-man-in-macau-dies-in-suicide-plunge\/","title":{"rendered":"Beijing\u2019s Top Man in Macau Dies in \u2018Suicide\u2019 Plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zheng Xiaosong, China\u2019s chief official in Macau, is reported to have died after falling from a building on Saturday night. His body was found with no identification outside a private residential building in the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub.<\/p>\n

\"Zheng
Zheng Xiaosong was said by Central Government to be \u201csuffering from depression,\u201d implying suicide, although falling out of windows appears to be something of a growing occupational hazard for Chinese officials, according to BBC China. (Image: CGTN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zheng’s death was confirmed in a statement on Sunday by the Chinese Government\u2019s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which claimed he had \u201cbeen suffering from depression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zheng was not known to have been a focus of Beijing\u2019s widespread \u201canti-corruption\u201d campaign, which has targeted high-level officials<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n

President Xi Jinping has vowed to eradicate the graft endemic in Chinese society, but the corruption crackdown has often been used as a pretext for political purges. Zheng, 59, was a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, one of China’s elite ruling bodies.<\/p>\n

According to the BBC, \u201chundreds of mid-level Chinese officials who had been accused of graft have died in recent years — reportedly by suicide, though observers have questioned these accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

On Sunday, BBC China listed the names and positions of seven Chinese officials who have fallen from buildings this year alone, six with fatal consequences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018Nothing Suspicious\u2019 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

But on Monday, Macau police said they had found nothing suspicious in Zheng\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter our investigation department followed up on the case, it was confirmed it was not suspicious, nor was there any criminality,\u201d said Macau police spokesman Ho Chan-nam in a press statement.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ho added that an autopsy would shortly be performed to verify the cause of death. No suicide note had been recovered, he said.<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/em> reports that Zheng met with the head of a think tank on Friday, according to the Macau liaisons office\u2019s website. His death came just days before the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge<\/a>, the world\u2019s longest sea bridge, which will connect Hong Kong to Macau and the neighboring Chinese mainland city of Zhuhai.<\/p>\n

Predecessor Feels Heat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Like Hong Kong, Macau is officially part of China but also a special autonomous administrative region that exists under the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d policy.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s political influence, however, is growing within the two autonomous regions. And while their residents enjoy freedom and rights that those on the mainland do not, many feel these are being slowly eroded by creeping Central Government control.<\/p>\n

\n

Zheng had been in the job since September. One of his predecessors, Li Gang, was removed from his post by Central Government in 2016. Last year, LI was stripped of membership of the National People\u2019s Congress and accused of \u201cseriously violating discipline,\u201d an official euphemism for corruption. His fate remains unclear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

President Xi last visited Macau in 2014, just as his anti-graft campaign turned its focus onto the enclave\u2019s casino industry, scrutiny that scared off high-rollers, sparking a two-year revenue slump. As pro-democracy campaigners lined the streets during Xi’s visit, the president urged Macau to \u201cpromote diversification and sustainable development\u201d — advice the enclave’s casino sector has largely followed.<\/p>\n

Xi is expected to visit again Macau this week for the opening of the bridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zheng Xiaosong, China\u2019s chief official in Macau, is reported to have died after falling from a building on Saturday night. His body was found with no identification outside a private residential building in the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub. Zheng’s death was confirmed in a statement on Sunday by the Chinese Government\u2019s Hong Kong and Macau […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":91030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeijing\u2019s Top Man in Macau Dies in \u2018Suicide\u2019 Plunge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chinese Central Government\u2019s top Macau official Zheng Xiaosong plunged to his death in the gambling hub on Saturday. 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