The former party boss of Shanghai has been kicked out of the Communist Party, moving him one step closer to standing trial on corruption charges, state media reported yesterday.
Chen Liangyu (陳良宇) -- the highest-level party official to be dismissed in a decade -- was also removed from all his government positions, state television said in its evening broadcast.
The moves formalize the end of an investigation into Chen's involvement in a high-profile pension scandal in Shanghai that saw dozens of people arrested.
"Today, the Politburo of the Communist Party met and decided to expel Chen Liangyu from the party, dismiss him as a public servant and hand over his case to the judicial department," CCTV reported.
"His activities seriously violated the discipline of the party, damaged the interests of the people and the image of the party, and were a vile social influence," it said.
Chen is accused of being at the center of a scandal last year over the alleged misuse of about US$400 million in pension funds that were improperly invested in real estate and road toll projects.
CCTV said an investigation found Chen had abused his power by lending large amounts of money from the fund and helping private businessmen purchase stakes in state-owned companies, resulting in huge losses.
"He and his family members bribed others to help them make illegal profits. He had bad moral standards and took advantage of his position to dally with women," CCTV said.
The scandal comes as the Communist Party tries to crack down on widespread corruption ahead of a party congress later this year.
Shanghai government officials announced in May that all the misused funds had been recovered, but the results of a secretive investigation into the case have yet to be announced.
The announcement of Chen's dismissal came the same day that a state-run newspaper reported that a former head of a district in Beijing had also been expelled from the party because of corruption allegations, in the latest graft-related dismissal before Beijing hosts next year's Olympic Games.
The Beijing Daily said Zhou Liangluo (周良洛), 49, the former head of Haidian district, "abused his power to profit himself and others and took a huge unspecified amount in bribes while serving as a senior party and government official in the Chaoyang and Haidian districts."
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS