Suicidal positions

"The cause of the suicide is still under investigation," read all three press releases.

Three senior officials passed away last week. Xu Ye'an, a deputy director of the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, reportedly killed himself on April 8. One day later, He Gaobo, a deputy director of a construction management office in Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, allegedly committed suicide.

Earlier, Zhou Yu, a former police officer who had been dubbed an anti-mafia hero, was found dead in a hotel room in Chongqing, in what was also believed to be a suicide.

Zhou had been reportedly suffering from diabetes and heart problems for many years and he was recently diagnosed with severe liver cirrhosis. Xu had also been reportedly in poor health and had recently been afflicted with tinnitus.

At least 54 Chinese officials have died of "unnatural causes" since January 2013, the China Youth Daily reported. It is believed that 23 of them committed suicide, and the other deaths were caused by heavy drinking or accidents.

The highest-ranking official of them all was Bai Zhongren, the former head of the China Railway Group Limited. He reportedly jumped to his death in January.

As people mourn these deaths, speculation has run rampant about why these suicides occurred, with many raising questions over whether negligence or corruption was involved.

Meanwhile, experts noted that it is irresponsible to jump to such conclusions and said the suicides of these officials reflect the fragile psychological health of some officials who are under intense pressure.

Questionable deaths

Several officials reached by the Global Times argued that the speculation that officials committed suicide to evade punishment is irresponsible, as it is unfair to criticize the entire group because of a few black sheep who engaged in corruption.

An example of cases which triggered such public speculation was a health official from Shaanxi Province who committed suicide as he faced prosecution over the embezzlement of public funds in December 2013.

"Most media coverage of suicides of officials failed to release thorough investigation results, which encourages these suicides to some extent," said Qi Xingfa, an associate professor with the School of Humanities and Social Science at East China Normal University.

The present legal system creates incentives to commit suicides. The Criminal Procedure Law says that dead suspects will not be investigated, which means their accomplices and families would be safe.

Speculation about corruption and power abuse itself is in fact a burden on officials, Qi noted. Some officials may be pressured to be corrupt in certain situations. Moreover, some family members even view corruption as a duty to the family as it can boost their fortune through the abuse of power.

Li Fuduo, a local official from Chongqing, killed himself because he lacked money to support his sick mother, while Wang Weiguo, a vice-mayor of Datong, Shanxi Province, was murdered when he failed to arrange a job transfer for a relative in 2012.