A former top graft buster at the Chinese Ministry of State Security was yesterday indicted on bribery charges, just weeks before a major congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party whose leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), has made fighting corruption a signature issue.
The indictment of Liu Yanping (劉彥平), who was secretary of the ministry’s Central Discipline Inspection Committee from May 2015 until March, was a further reminder of Xi’s vow to attack corruption “amongst both the flies and tigers.”
On Friday, former Chinese minister of justice Fu Zhenghua (傅政華) was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve on charges of manipulating the stock market, taking bribes and other offenses. The case involved at least two former Cabinet officials.
Photo: AP
State media said Liu had accepted “huge” amounts of property from others in return for favors. Those often included derailing investigations or offering promotions for cash.
He was expelled from the party earlier this month in a sign he would be indicted, tried and almost certainly handed a lengthy prison term.
In that initial investigation, it was found that Liu had “lost his ideals and convictions,” and was “downright corrupt politically.” He “traded political power for interests and distorted his power into a tool to seek political capital, personal benefits and wealth,” the reports said.
Liu was found to have “engaged in superstitious activities” and accepted invitations to golf games, banquets, tours and medical services from private businesspeople “that may compromise his impartiality in the performance of official duties,” the reports said.
In Sun’s case, a former justice minister and a former ruling party official who were accused of colluding with him received similar penalties.
Sun was convicted of collecting 646 million yuan (US$89.14 million) in bribes and charged with using his official position in 2018 to manipulate stock trading to help a trader avoid losses. He was also accused of selling official jobs and abandoning his post during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Earlier, Sun was named in a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn seeking to compel Wynn to register as a foreign agent. The department cited lobbying work it says Wynn performed for the Chinese government.
The lawsuit says senior officials including Sun wanted Wynn’s help in trying to have a Chinese citizen’s visa application denied, according to the complaint. Beijing wanted the man, who was charged with corruption and sought political asylum, returned to China.
Xi launched his anti-graft campaign shortly after taking over as party leader in late 2012. It has at times been seen as a tool to remove political rivals and intimidate the vast bureaucracy into doing his bidding. It has also sparked a public backlash, as in the case of the rigid enforcement of “zero COVID-19” restrictions that have hobbled the economy and upended the lives of millions.
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