A former Chinese minister of justice has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following an investigation by the anti-corruption watchdog, the first time Beijing has announced that she was in trouble.
Wu Aiying (吳愛英), 65, was Chinese minister of justice from 2005 to February, according to her official resume, and one of only a handful of senior female officials in Beijing.
In a statement released late on Saturday following a four-day meeting of the CCP Central Committee, the largest of its elite ruling bodies, Wu’s name was listed as one of a number of officials to have been expelled from the party for graft.
Photo: Reuters
While the other names listed, including former Chongqing party secretary Sun Zhengcai (孫政才), had been announced earlier, Wu’s name had not been mentioned by the party in connection with any investigation.
The CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection found that Wu had “serious discipline problems,” the communique said, using a euphemism for corruption, but gave no other details.
It was not possible to reach Wu or a representative for comment.
Wu had spent most her career working in the eastern Shandong Province, where she rose to become a deputy provincial party chief, before moving to Beijing in late 2003 to work at the Chinese Ministry of Justice.
China’s legal authorities have been one of the focuses of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) crackdown on deep-rooted corruption, with powerful former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang (周永康), and many of his allies and former associates, jailed.
It is not clear if Wu had any direct connection with Zhou.
The WeChat account of the state-run Beijing News, Political Matters, said that Wu was known to be a no-nonsense straight talker, once shouting at a subordinate when a mobile phone rang in the middle of a meeting.
The announcement about Wu comes a few days before the party opens the once-in-five-years National Congress on Wednesday.
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