Former Senior Official Expelled From Chinese Communist Party

Mr. Liu Tienan, a member of the Chinese Communist Party and government was the head of economic planning. He has been expelled from the party and state for corruption., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Former senior official expelled from Party

Updated: 2013-08-09 01:51
By An Baijie and Du Juan (China Daily)

The former vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission has been expelled from the Party and handed over to judicial authorities for further investigation, the Party's graft-fighting watchdog announced on Thursday.

Liu Tienan, 59, who was also former head of the National Energy Administration, was found to be taking advantage of his post to seek gains, and accepting bribes, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

Former senior official expelled from Party
Liu Tienan, former vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission

The commission also accused Liu of abusing his power to seek benefits for his relative's businesses, and being "morally degenerate".

No details were given.

The commission said in a statement that Liu's activities seriously violated Party discipline and might have broken the criminal law, so the case has been transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation.

Liu headed the National Energy Administration from December 2010 until he was removed from the post in March this year after allegations against him were posted online.

Luo Changping, deputy editor-in-chief of Caijing magazine, said in a post on Dec 6 that Liu had committed multiple offenses including helping a businessman get loans from banks, and in return the businessman offered a large amount of money to Liu's son.

Luo said in May that the whistle-blower was Liu's mistress, who had a dispute with Liu after years in an intimate relationship. China Daily could not reach Luo for comments on Thursday.

A source close to the National Energy Administration who did not want to be named said a group of retired high officials with the administration, including Liu's predecessor Zhang Guobao, reported Liu's corruption, which led to Liu stepping down.

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public administration at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said anti-graft efforts have been strengthened, especially after the Party's 18th National Congress in November, and the Internet is playing a positive role.

Since November, at least eight ministerial-level officials have been under disciplinary investigation, "which reflects the leaders' resolution in fighting graft", he said.
Zhu said the Internet has provided an important platform for the public to supervise officials.

An energy industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Liu’s alleged corruption had brought obstacles to the energy sector.

"The administrative approval process (of energy projects), which aims at better supervision, is necessary. However, some comprehensive approval processes of energy projects during Liu’s time were just for benefits," he said, without elaborating.

The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) for the power grid industry has not been mapped, which has become a "joke" in the industry since it is still under discussion when half the five-year period has passed, he said.

"There is a huge game behind such a delay," he said. "The new leaders of the National Energy Administration are working to implement the plan soon, which I believe is good for the industry."


8 August 2013
Last updated at 23:30 ET

China sacks top economic official Liu Tienan

A former top economic official in China has been expelled from the Communist Party and removed from public office, state media report.

Liu Tienan, formerly deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, "accepted huge amounts of bribes", Xinhua news agency reported.

Allegations against Mr Liu emerged online in December, when a well-known journalist accused him of corruption.

The move comes amid a high-profile crackdown on corruption.

Mr Liu "took advantage of his position to seek profits for others," Xinhua reported, citing the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He was found to "seek benefits for his relatives' businesses by breaking relevant regulations" and had accepted "cash and gifts", Xinhua said.

The commission also found Mr Liu was "morally degenerate", Xinhua added, without giving further details.

Luo Changping, deputy editor of the respected Caijing Magazine, first levelled allegations against Mr Liu in December.

On entries posted on his microblog, Mr Luo said the official was involved in questionable financial deals, fabricated his academic record and threatened to kill a former mistress.

In May, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection began investigating Mr Liu for suspected "serious disciplinary violations".

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a crackdown on corruption, vowing to tackle it from the powerful "tigers" at the top to the "flies" at the bottom of the Communist Party.
In June, Lei Zhengfu, a former official at the centre of a sex tape extortion scandal, was jailed for accepting bribes.

In July, former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun was given a suspended death sentence for corruption and abuse of power.


Four judges suspended amid Shanghai sex probe: officials

AFP
August 6, 2013, 12:02 am TWN

SHANGHAI--Four judges in Shanghai have been suspended over allegations they patronized prostitutes, reports and officials said Monday in the latest salacious Chinese scandal to emerge from online accusations.

An inquiry was opened after an anonymous blogger, identified by state media only by his surname Ni, posted footage online last week alleging that five officials hired prostitutes at a local resort.

The Shanghai Higher People's Court said on Tencent Weibo, a Twitter-like social media service, that Chen Xueming, the chief judge of its No.1 Civil Tribunal, and three other officials had been suspended.

“The Shanghai Higher People's Court is highly concerned about the incident and has launched an investigation into the case,” it said.

The court previously said Zhao Minghua, deputy chief judge of the tribunal, was among those named on Ni's blog.

Ni claimed Zhao intervened in a civil case in 2009 that caused him a huge financial loss, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported Monday.

He spent a year following Zhao, it said, “and discovered that he frequently went to nightclubs, owned several properties and had extramarital affairs.”

Surveillance video posted by Ni purported to show five officials including Chen and Zhao entering a luxury room after a three-hour banquet at the resort in June, followed by several women who stood by the door.

Subtitles said that Chen allocated the prostitutes to each man. Video showed officials walking out two hours later, some of them arm-in-arm with women.

The identity of the fifth person in the footage remains unknown.

Shanghai's city disciplinary commission, which is taking part in the investigation, said on its account on Tencent Weibo that all four of the accused were judges.

“The involvement of four judges in the 'nightclub entertainment incident' deprived the law of its dignity, put judiciary to shame and caused damage to justice,” it said.

It was investigating “to preserve the image of the party and the government and safeguard the stable political, economic and social development of Shanghai,” it said, adding it would publicly disclose the results of the case.

The incident is the latest in a series of scandals over corruption and other disciplinary violations, including sexual impropriety, by Chinese officials to be revealed online by whistleblowers.

In May authorities announced the sacking of Liu Tienan, a former deputy director of China's top economic planner, after an investigative reporter accused him of graft on Sina Weibo, another social network.

Numerous low-level cadres have also been dismissed after Internet users exposed alleged — sometimes sordid — scandals, some involving luxury watches or multiple mistresses.

In July Wang Suyi, a senior Chinese regional official in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, was fired after a Sina Weibo user cited his mistresses as accusing him of bribe-taking and nepotism.

Yang Dacai, an official in the central province of Shaanxi, was sacked in September 2012 after Sina Weibo users posted photographs of him wearing expensive watches, five of which were said to be worth a total of 300,000 yuan (US$49,000).

China's new leaders under President Xi Jinping have vowed to fight corruption and said there would be “no leniency” for graft.

Netizens often resort to social media such as weibo to reveal officials' misconduct, though their efforts are sometimes seen as a threat to social stability and cracked down on by authorities.