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Status of China's justice minister is in question

Chinese Justice Minister Gao Changli (高昌禮) left his post last week, apparently for health reasons, a ministry spokesman said yesterday, but a Hong Kong and a Western newspaper said he had been fired and was under investigation.

The spokesman said he was unaware of a Wall Street Journal report which quoted ministry sources as saying Gao had been detained and was under questioning at a hotel outside Beijing for "irregularities."

"Mr Gao has not been minister since last week. I don't know where he is now," the spokesman said. "I think his departure was due to health problems."

Gao, 63, who left a job overseeing pivotal reforms of China's underdeveloped and corruption-ridden legal system, had not yet been replaced, the spokesman said.

There has been no mention in China's state media of his departure, which was reported in a Hong Kong newspaper on Thursday.

Several other Justice Ministry officials said they were unaware of any change at the top.

The electronic edition of the Wall Street Journal said Gao cleaned out his desk on Nov. 26 and was succeeded by Zhang Fusen, a former vice justice minister.

The paper said Gao was under detention at the Jiuhua Shanzhuang hotel on the outskirts of Beijing, where he was being held for round-the-clock questioning. He had not been formally charged with any wrongdoing, it said.

A spokesman at Jiuhua Shanzhuang told reporters Gao was not in the hotel yesterday morning, but declined to clarify whether Gao had been there recently.

Gao, who previously served on the Supreme People's Court, was closely identified with a drive to make China's legal system more transparent and clean up court corruption.

Efforts have been made to open up China's judicial system since 1998, including encouraging people to attend court hearings, televising trials and opening case files to the public.

Gao, who left his post half-way through a five-year term, became the second minister to leave the cabinet since Premier Zhu Rongji took office in March 1998.
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