• The public has become concerned after seven government officials from different parts of the country died of unnatural causes within a month.

The public has become concerned after seven government officials from different parts of the country died of unnatural causes within a month. (Photo : pinglun.youth.cn)

The unnatural deaths of seven government officials within less than a month have roused concern among the public, especially because some of the deaths have yet to be explained, according to a report by China Daily.

Official sources have only provided limited information, which is not enough to stop a curious public from speculating, said Yang Xiaojun, a professor of law at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Like Us on Facebook

Yang believes that the results of investigations into the deaths must be explained to the public as soon as possible as they are a matter of public concern.

The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee announced earlier this year that detailed information about deceased officials must be released to the public.

112 officials have committed suicide from Aug. 2003 to April 2014, with 39 percent of them dying in their offices and 33 percent dying at home, according to a report by Southern Weekly.

One of the seven government officials who died within the month was Hao Zhuang, security chief in Jiaohe, Jilin Province, who fell from the window of his office on Monday.

The local government statement said that Hao fell accidentally while cleaning the window glass, dying as a result of critical injuries despite emergency medical treatment. No other information was provided.

On the same day, Wang Jinwei, head of the finance bureau of Enshi, Hubei Province, died after falling from the roof of a residential building where he lived. Again, no other explanation had been provided.

The other five government officials who died within the month, according to a Legal Evening News report, were Xiao Wensun, mayor of Liuzhou; Zhang Jianwei, head of the disciplinary department of China Nation Offshore Oil Corporation; Wang Pin'gang, senior vice president of China Shenhua Energy Co.; the former head of the land and resources department in Xiamen surnamed Lin; and Chen Hongqiao, president of Guosen Securities.