CHINA: CONVICTED BEIJING OFFICIAL GIVES UP DEATH TERM APPEAL

a former district chief in Beijing said he will not appeal his death sentence for taking bribes worth 16.7 million yuan (US$2.38 million), the Beijing Times reported. Zhou Liangluo, 49, former governor of Haidian District, said the death term with a two-year reprieve was "expected." Suspended death penalties in China are normally commuted to life imprisonment on condition of good behavior during the reprieve period. Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court delivered the term on March 28, 2008.