Top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have decided to expel former Shanghai leader Chen Liangyu from the Party, and transfer his case to judicial departments, Xinhua reported today.
After almost a year of removing Chen from his official posts due to alleged corruptions, the Party finally announced such resolute handlings of Mr. Chen, and sent out a clear and loud anti-corruption message just a couple of months before the opening the 17th national convention of the Party.
“Anti-corruption struggle concerns wining or losing public support, the life and death of the Party, and the long period of peace and stability of the country,” Xinhua quoted an announcement released by the Party. “Within the Party, [we] need to make sure that at any time, no matter who, no matter how high the office, as long as someone violates the Party principles and the law, he will be seriously investigated and severely punished.”
The Party’s central disciplinary commission has found Chen Liangyu corrupt in many ways, including supporting illegal loaning of Shanghai social security funds to individuals and companies and therefore jeopardizing the safety of the funds, taking bribes in exchange for showing preference for certain parties when approving projects, as well as abusing his power for sex.
Support for Chen’s punishment has dominated online comments, and many netizens are calling for death penalty for Chen.
Xinhua report
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-07-26/215013534725.shtmlOnline commentshttp://comment4.news.sina.com.cn/comment/skin/default.html?channel=gn&newsid=1-1-13534725&style=0
Outspoken Comments
Government Squander has to be StoppedChina’s annual government administrative fees shouldered by each tax payer increased 23 times in 20 years, and officials’ squander should be blamed for it.
This is the remark made by Feng Peien, a CPPCC national committee member, on Monday during a CPPCC plenary. Mr. Feng said that in the 20 years from 1896 through 2005, the amount that every Chinese tax payer paid annually for government operations increased from 20.5 yuan to 498 yuan (about $2.5 to $62), while China’s per capital GDP increased just 14.6 times in the same time period.
Mr. Feng related such unusual increases in government spending with government squander, such as wasting public money on officials’ vehicles, dining and overseas visits, all kinds of government meetings, luxury office buildings and energy wastes.To curb such lavishing of public resources, Mr. Feng proposed the establishment of an “anti-squander law.” Targeting at the causes for such wastes, he made other proposals, including having more information openness on government operation and holding public hearings on spending tax dollars. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-03-12/151812496557.shtml
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-03-12/151812496477.shtml
Interesting Ideas and ProposalsPublic Officials should Reveal Personal FinanceA National People's Congress delegate called on China’s public officials to reveal their personal financial information to the public, as a way of checking corruption.
“Government officials are public servants of the people, and what kind of personal assets they have should be hided from the people?” Mr. Wang Quanjie, a NPC delegate from Shandong, made the inquiry. “Citizens’ personal property is privacy, but that of tax-payer-supported government officials is not.”
Meanwhile, NPC delegates told the media that Chinese authorities are considering setting up a “clean government law,” although officials said no state legislation plans have been made for it.
Nevertheless, the idea is welcomed by the public, as demonstrated in comments in sina.com.cn forum.
“I finally see the hope,” one comment reads, referring to the anti-corruption course that most Chinese people are concerned about.
Not everyone is optimistic, and some people doubt how much difference such a law can make. “The problem is not establishing a law, but enforcing it,” on person writes.
In a related move, a national corruption prevention bureau has gained the nod from the central government and is expected to be set up within this year, high-ranking officials in NPC and CPPCC told state media.
City view of Shanghai
Millions of people commented on the Internet in the last couple of days, hailing the sacking of Chen Liangyu, former party chief of Shanghai, who allegedly involved in the city’s recent social security fund embezzlement scandal.
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party made the decision on Sunday to remove Chen Liangyu from office, including his post in the Politburo, and start an investigation on his role in the pension fund scandal. Preliminary investigation showed that Mr. Chen was involved in the embezzlement. He was also found seeking interests for illegal entrepreneurs, providing illegitimate benefits for his relatives, and shielding his staff’s misconducts, Xinhua reported.
The move was to the surprise of the majority of the public. “It’s sudden, but reasonable,” one wrote on the Internet. Most people did not expect such severe punishments for Mr. Chen, who not only had a position in the politburo, but also headed the largest and most prosperous city in China. He was also seen as a member of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin’s clique.
Many observers said Mr. Chen’s fall indicated President Hu Jintao’s final take-over of the full power, and the ending of Mr. Jiang's influence on national politics. Others said the move was more than power struggle, but was part of Mr.Hu’s plan to crack down on party and government officials’ corruption, which has been prevalent in almost every government and party branch across China, and deeply rooted in the political system. They saw this move as a hope for restoring a clean, integral political arena.
One observer wrote that Chen Liangyu provided a good opportunity for President Hu to demonstrate that he was willing to remove anyone who committed corruption, so as to admonish other officials. And the timing was good, too. The communist party is expected to go through major personnel changes when the party’s 17th national assembly opens next year. There are speculations that half of the members of the politburo standing committee will retire after the assembly. With a largely new politburo standing committee, which sits at the top of CCP hierocracy, it is easier for Mr. Hu to implement new policies, including a tougher surveillance system to tackle corruptions. On Tuesday, an official from CCP’s central disciplinary committee said that last year, more than 11,000 party members were dispelled from the party due to corruptions, Xinhua reported.http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2006-09/26/content_5140344.htmhttp://washeng.net/HuaShan/BBS/shishi/gbcurrent/151045.shtmlhttp://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2006-09/26/content_5139867.htm----by Josie Liu
Top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have decided to expel former Shanghai leader Chen Liangyu from the Party, and transfer his case to judicial departments, Xinhua reported today.
