China Communist Party ex-official arrested on bribery charges News
Dong Fang, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
China Communist Party ex-official arrested on bribery charges

Chinese authorities arrested former Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee secretary Sun Zhigang over alleged bribe-taking, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) announced Thursday.

According to the National Supervisory Commission (NSC), the investigation into allegations of Sun’s corruption started in August 2023. In February, the NSC concluded that Sun engaged in nepotism, sought special treatment, and accepted benefits and travel arrangements that may have affected the fair execution of his official duties. In doing so, Sun breached the CPC principle of “two safeguards,” and undermined the authority of the central government, the NSC said.

The NSC announced the removal of Sun’s membership in accordance with the Regulations on Disciplinary Punishments of the Communist Party of China, the Supervision Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Government Punishment of Public Officials, which provide that the CPC has the power to remove public officials from office for corruption or bribery.

The announcement comes after the SPP held a meeting on February 6 on improving anti-corruption work within the government and the party. In the meeting, leader of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection SPP Supervision Team Liu Zhao urged the SPP to “take up the responsibility of comprehensively and strictly administering inspections” against corrupt officials.

Sun is currently in the SPP’s custody. The SPP has decided to commence prosecution against Sun. The case is awaiting further processing.

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