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Former Beijing vice mayor goes on trial

A former Beijing vice mayor in charge of overseeing Olympic construction projects has gone on trial for corruption, a court clerk said yesterday.

The trial of Liu Zhihua (劉志華) began on Tuesday at the Intermediate Court in the city of Hengshui outside Beijing, a clerk surnamed Wang said by telephone.

The clerk declined to give any details, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Liu had been dismissed from his post in 2006, kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party, and handed over to prosecutors to face bribery charges.

State media has reported that Liu took several million yuan in bribes and helped his mistress to seek profit in construction projects.

The government squelched all reporting on Liu’s prosecution in the months leading up to the Olympic Games in August. Beijing officials said Liu’s alleged misdeeds had nothing to do with Olympic projects, but his dismissal put a cloud over preparations for the Games and prompted authorities to ratchet up anti-corruption efforts.

Venue construction accounted for only a small share of the US$38 billion that Beijing reportedly spent on urban renewal and infrastructure construction for the Olympics.

Many officials have been charged with corruption in the construction and real estate trades in Beijing.

The business magazine Caijing said Liu’s malfeasance had been deemed “weighty and complex,” requiring prosecutors to extend his detention three times prior to trial while additional investigations were undertaken.

Citing court documents, it said Liu was accused of receiving almost 7 million yuan (US$1 million) in bribes and gifts in return for favors to development companies.

His alleged mistress, Wang Jianrui (王建瑞), is accused of aiding him in those schemes and is being tried separately, the magazine said.

She reportedly ran a construction firm that received contracts for construction of Olympic venues, including the tennis center at a time when Liu was in charge of millions of dollars of Olympic construction.
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