Former director of religious affairs pleads guilty for bribery

Cui Maohu, former director of the National Religious Affairs Administration, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes totaling 10.43 million yuan ($1.44 million) at a trial at Liaoyang Intermediate People's Court, in Liaoning province, on Thursday.

Liu, also a former deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, confessed to his crimes and delivered a final statement in court. He will be sentenced later.

The prosecutor accused that from 2007 to 2023, the Cui capitalized on his positions such as deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, Party chief of Yunnan's Lijiang, and deputy governor of Yunnan, to help others in matters such as project contracting, fund allocation, and cadre appointments. In return, he accepted money and property total of 10.43 million yuan.

The prosecutorial authorities asked that Cui be held criminally responsible for the crimes of accepting bribes.

Cui, 58, a native of Yunnan, spent nearly his entire career in the province. He began working as a teacher in Qujing, Yunnan, in 1987 and joined the Party in 1990.

In 1994, he kicked off his over 20-year career at the Organization Department of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee. From December 2007 to May 2017, he served as the deputy head of the department. In the following four years, he served as the Party chief of Lijiang.

In May 2021, he was elected vice-governor of Yunnan and served at the post for nearly one year. In June, he was appointed the director of the National Religious Affairs Administration, meanwhile, serving as the deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.

He was placed under investigation in March 2023, and expelled from the Party and removed from his public posts in August. Prosecutors in Liaoyang initiated the prosecution against him in December.