Check SOE leaders

Chen Tonghai, former general manager and chairman of board of directors of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), more than deserves the death sentence with a two-year reprieve that was announced yesterday. The total he received in bribes is close to 200 million yuan ($29 million).

The amount of bribe is not necessarily the sole benchmark for punishment. The core issue is whether the way power was abused by corrupt leaders like Chen will help identify and plug the loopholes in our system.

Chen earned himself notoriety for arbitrary and despotic exercise of power. He behaved as if he was the king of the State-owned petroleum giant. His whim was policy. He was famously quoted as saying, "The 1 or 2 million yuan I spend in socializing a month is a piece of cake compared with the more than 20 billion yuan our firm brings to the State in taxes every year. You can't make money unless you know how to spend it".