Beijing praises Macau official who fell to his death, calling Zheng Xiaosong a man of integrity

Head of Chinese government’s office in the casino hub died in a fall at his home

Authorities said he had been depressed, while police said there was nothing suspicious about the manner of his death

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Zheng Xiaosong died in a fall at his home last week. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:00pm, 28 Oct 2018Updated: 2:44pm, 29 Oct 2018

Beijing has praised Zheng Xiaosong, its top official in Macau who died in a fall last week, as a man of integrity in a statement on Sunday.

The head of the mainland Chinese government’s office in the city fell to his death earlier this month, prompting widespread speculation about the reason for his fall, after authorities said he had been depressed.

But one week after he died at home in Macau, the liaison office in the city mourned the 59-year-old as an “excellent member” of the Communist Party, and said he had been “clean and upright” when serving in ministries in the past.

Rumours had swirled around the death of Zheng Xiaosong, who was described as depressed by officials in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

“In office since September 2017 … comrade Zheng worked selflessly despite battling illness and contributed to ‘one country, two systems’,” the office said in an obituary released on Sunday.

The obituary made no mention of the cause of death, or any illness that may have caused it. A few hours after Zheng’s death on October 20, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said he had “suffered from depression”.