China goes after corrupt officials ahead of party congress

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – As China prepares for the Communist Party’s 20th National Congress next month, several former officials have been punished for corruption.

Former justice and deputy security ministers are among those served delayed death sentences and their personal properties confiscated.

On Friday, the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in northeast Jilin province sentenced to death Sun Lijun, who earlier served as China’s deputy minister of public security.

He was, however, given a two-year reprieve.

The former deputy minister was convicted of “taking more than 646 million yuan ($91 million) in bribes, manipulating the stock market, and illegally possessing firearms,” the Chinese daily Global Times reported.

Sun's political rights were revoked by the court last year, as has happened in other cases.

He was expelled from the Communist Party of China for “grave violations of party discipline and laws” and for failing to stay "true to the party’s ideals and faith.”

The CPC had accused Sun of “cultivating personal followers and interest groups to obtain personal political gains” which “seriously undermined the unity of the party and compromised political security.”

On Thursday, the same court sentenced former justice minister Fu Zhenghua, 67, to death for over $16 million in corruption, with a two-year reprieve.

He was accused of “taking advantage” of his position between 2005 and 2021, including accepting bribes totaling more than 117 million yuan (about $16.76 million) and “bending the law for personal gains.”

On Wednesday, three former Chinese police chiefs, including Gong Daoan, former police chief of Shanghai, Deng Huilin, former police chief of Chongqing, and Liu Xinyun, former police chief of coal-rich Shanxi province, were given harsh sentences for corruption.

Separate courts in Hebei province handed down the sentences.​​​​​​​