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china corruption
Nanjing’s former mayor, Ji Jianye, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for corruption.
The Chinese court in Yantai found Ji Jianye guilty of accepting 11.3 million yuan ($1.9 million) in bribes between 1999 and 2013, when he was dismissed.
As mayor Ji Jianye was nicknamed “Bulldozer” for his heavy promotion of construction and redevelopment in Nanjing.
Ji Jianye is the latest high profile official to be jailed under President Xi Jinping’s corruption crackdown.
The court said in a statement that it had been “lenient in meting out punishment, as Ji admitted his guilt and showed repentance”.
Ji Jianye assumed the powerful role of mayor of Nanjing in 2010.
Nnajing is the capital of Jiangsu province and home to about seven million people.
In January 2013 Ji Jianye was placed under investigation suspected of “severe violations of disciplines and laws”. He was arrested and expelled from the ruling Communist Party in 2014.
The court heard Ji Jianye had received huge amounts of money and gifts from a range of influential people and companies – including construction firms – in exchange for favorable deals and contracts.
As has become common practice, Ji Jianye’s case was heard in eastern Shandong, far from his home province and support base in Jiangsu.
President Xi Jinping launched his anti-corruption drive on coming into office in November 2012.
Xi Jinping warned that public anger over corruption threatened the survival of the Communist Party, and promised to pursue “tigers” – top-level officials – as well as “flies”.
Chinese authorities are investigating powerful intelligence chief Ma Jian for corruption.
The Communist Party’s discipline watchdog said Ma Jian was suspected of “serious violations” of the law.
Ma Jian is the latest high-ranking figure to be targeted in an ongoing crackdown on corruption among party officials.
He is vice-minister in the Ministry of State Security, which oversees foreign and counterintelligence operations.
No further details were given in the one-line statement on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s website, but the wording used typically applies to a corruption probe.
Reports of the investigation into Ma Jian emerged earlier this month, with a South China Morning Post report linking it to a corruption probe involving a technology conglomerate.
Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to eradicate corruption amongst party and government officials when he took power in late 2012, calling it a threat to the party’s survival.
In recent months multiple officials have been toppled, the most senior being Zhou Yongkang, the former head of the Ministry of Public Security.
Earlier this month, an investigation was also announced into Zhang Kunsheng, the highest ranking of four Chinese assistant foreign ministers.
Guangzhou Communist Party leader Wan Qingliang is being investigated for corruption, a party disciplinary commission has said.
Wan Qingliang, 50, is suspected of “serious disciplinary violations”, a term generally used to indicate corruption.
Guangzhou’s party boss Wan Qingliang is suspected of serious disciplinary violations (photo Reuters)
He is regarded as the city’s top official, ranked above the mayor.
Tens of thousands of officials have been arrested since President Xi Jinping began an anti-corruption campaign in 2012.
Xi Jinping has warned that the party’s very survival is threatened by corruption and has vowed to root out every corrupt official, whether “tigers” or “flies”.
A central government audit recently uncovered 314 serious disciplinary violations, up from 175 serious cases revealed the year before.
Correspondents say that before the investigation Wan Qingliang had been seen as a rising star in the Communist Party, developing a reputation for frugality while serving as Guangzhou’s youngest ever mayor.
Guangzhou is China’s sixth largest city and capital of the economically significant Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong.
Four anti-corruption activists linked to the New Citizens’ Movement – which campaigns for government transparency – have been jailed by a Chinese court.
Human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi was jailed for three and a half years, while veteran activist Zhao Changqing was jailed for two and a half years.
Activists Zhang Baocheng and Li Wei each received two-year sentences.
The verdicts come after Beijing’s high court upheld a four-year jail term given to movement founder Xu Zhiyong.
Four anti-corruption activists linked to the New Citizens’ Movement have been jailed by Beijing court
The New Citizens’ Movement a loose network of activists is campaigning for government officials to disclose their wealth.
Xu Zhiyong had appealed against his sentence for “gathering crowds to disrupt public order”.
The four activists were charged with the same offence, Beijing’s Haidian District People’s Court said in a blog post.
Zhang Baocheng’s lawyer, Ge Yongxi, told the AFP news agency that the ruling was “a warning and a threat”.
“We think he’s completely innocent; there is no legal basis for the court’s ruling, and the punishment is too heavy,” Ge Yongxi said.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly vowed to crack down on corruption – but the party has also tried critics and anti-corruption activists.
Human rights groups said the crackdown on the activists was part of a wider campaign against civil society by the government, despite President Xi Jinping’s high-profile public campaign against corruption.
