Trio of senior officials under investigation

Three senior officials are receiving disciplinary reviews and supervisory investigations due to suspected serious violations of Party discipline and national laws, according to statements issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Commission of Supervision on Friday.

Ji Binchang, chairman of the Qingdao Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Shandong province; He Zehua, former deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration; and Wang Xuefeng, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress, are all under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation conducted by the CCDI and NCS.

Ji, 59, a Shandong native, joined the Party in 1985 and began working in 1986. He became vice-governor of Shandong in June 2020 and was elected chairman of the CPPCC Qingdao Committee in April 2022.

He Zehua worked in Jiangsu province for many years. He served as secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Anhui Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau from 2000 to 2003, and was appointed deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration in July 2003 and retired from the post in 2014.

Wang, 68, a Hebei native, began working in 1971 and joined the Party in 1973. He was appointed Party secretary of Hebei's Tangshan in August 2010 and elected vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress in January 2013. He stepped down from the vice-chairman post in 2018.

In another development, Li Wenxi, former vice-chairman of the CPPCC Liaoning Provincial Committee, was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, on Friday for taking bribes exceeding 540 million yuan ($78.7 million) by the Tai'an Intermediate People's Court in Shandong.

The court also revoked Li's political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his property. After the reprieve, his sentence will be commuted to life in prison without parole. The ill-gotten gains will be confiscated and handed over to the State treasury.

According to the court, from 2004 to 2012, Li capitalized on his positions, including as head of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department, vice-chairman of the CPPCC Liaoning Provincial Committee, and vice-chairman of the Police Association of China, to help others in case handling and business operations. In return, the 72-year-old received money and valuables from others, with a total value of about 540 million yuan, from 2006 to 2021.

The court gave him statutory leniency because Li actively confessed his guilt, returned the illegal gains and revealed other important clues.

In another case, prosecutors in Chongqing have filed a public indictment against Huang Yi, former vice-chairman of the CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee, charging him with taking bribes, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Friday.

Huang took advantage of his multiple positions in Yunnan province, including Party secretary of Baoshan and vice-chairman of the CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee, to seek benefits for others while accepting a large sum of money and valuables in return. He should be investigated for criminal liability for bribery, according to the SPP.

Huang, 64, a Yunnan native, began working in 1975 and joined the Party in 1981. He served as Party secretary of Baoshan from December 2001 to June 2005. He was elected vice-chairman of the CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee in January 2017.

He was placed under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation in March 2022 and expelled from the Party in August. One month later, the SPP approved his arrest.