A Chinese court has convicted another former top official for corruption, accelerating President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive, which has already netted a one- time all-powerful security chief.
On Wednesday, the Langfang Intermediate People’s Court in north China’s Hebei Province sentenced to life imprisonment, Liu Tienan, the former deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, previously called the State Planning Commission. Mr. Liu, who also headed the National Energy Administration, was convicted of accepting bribes amounting to $5.8 million, accumulated directly or through his son, Liu Decheng, during a decade starting from 2002.
The conviction follows the arrest and sacking of Zhou Yongkang, a former Standing Committee member of the CPC’s Politburo, a top decision making body. Mr. Zhou was convicted on charges of bribery, adultery and leaking state secrets.
The conviction was preceded by high drama in previous months when excerpts of Mr. Liu’s emotional courtroom confession were widely broadcast on state television.
Mr. Liu’s fall from grace follows President Xi’s relentless drive to target “tigers” and “flies” — a reference to mighty top officials as well as junior bureaucrats — as means of ridding China of corruption.
The “tigers” on the list include Xu Caihou, a general who was once the vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission of which Mr. Xi is the head. Mr. Xu has already lost his CPC membership and is expected to face prosecution for allegedly trading military promotions for bribes.
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