Sidelining of Yuan Chunqing makes him the most senior leader to be tangled in
anti-graft campaign sweeping resource-rich province.
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 30 August, 2014, 2:04pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 31 August, 2014, 3:33am
Keith Zhai and Keira Lu Huang, South China Morning Post
anti-graft campaign sweeping resource-rich province.
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 30 August, 2014, 2:04pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 31 August, 2014, 3:33am
Keith Zhai and Keira Lu Huang, South China Morning Post
The party boss of Shanxi province will be sidelined and replaced by his Jilin
counterpart, making him the most senior leader to be tangled in a wide-ranging
anti-graft campaign in the resource-rich province.
Wang Rulin, 61, had already arrived in Shanxi to take over from Yuan
Chunqing, 62, sources said. One source said Yuan would not be investigated and
would instead be assigned to a less important post. The source also said that
Yuan's ties with Shanxi Governor Li Xiaopeng, the son of former premier Li Peng, were strained.
Under Yuan's leadership, seven vice-provincial-level party cadres in Shanxi
have been taken away for investigation in the past few months, including Ling
Zhengce, the brother of Ling Jihua, a one-time aide to former president Hu
Jintao. Yuan was also once a subordinate of Hu at the Communist Youth
League.
counterpart, making him the most senior leader to be tangled in a wide-ranging
anti-graft campaign in the resource-rich province.
Wang Rulin, 61, had already arrived in Shanxi to take over from Yuan
Chunqing, 62, sources said. One source said Yuan would not be investigated and
would instead be assigned to a less important post. The source also said that
Yuan's ties with Shanxi Governor Li Xiaopeng, the son of former premier Li Peng, were strained.
Under Yuan's leadership, seven vice-provincial-level party cadres in Shanxi
have been taken away for investigation in the past few months, including Ling
Zhengce, the brother of Ling Jihua, a one-time aide to former president Hu
Jintao. Yuan was also once a subordinate of Hu at the Communist Youth
League.
The latest casualties were Bai Yun, a member of the Shanxi party leadership's
standing committee and director of its United Front Work Department, and Shanxi vice-governor Ren Runhou, whose detention was announced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Friday.
Party bosses in the Shanxi cities of Taiyuan and Yuncheng - and their
immediate predecessors - were also taken away for investigation. And in Luliang, the two predecessors of the incumbent party boss were detained.
The extent of the clean-out has been described by mainland media as rare in
modern Chinese political history. The officials were caught up in the
commission's anti-corruption push into all four leading groups of the province -
the provincial party committee, the provincial people's congress, the provincial
government, and the provincial political consultative conference.
standing committee and director of its United Front Work Department, and Shanxi vice-governor Ren Runhou, whose detention was announced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Friday.
Party bosses in the Shanxi cities of Taiyuan and Yuncheng - and their
immediate predecessors - were also taken away for investigation. And in Luliang, the two predecessors of the incumbent party boss were detained.
The extent of the clean-out has been described by mainland media as rare in
modern Chinese political history. The officials were caught up in the
commission's anti-corruption push into all four leading groups of the province -
the provincial party committee, the provincial people's congress, the provincial
government, and the provincial political consultative conference.
Also reportedly detained as part of the Shanxi sweep was Zhang Xinming, once
the province's richest man.
Zhang is the founder of Shanxi Jinye Coking Coal, the company which is at the centre of a controversial deal with China Resources Power.
Yuan was promoted to Shanxi party chief in May 2010. Before that he served as
deputy secretary of the Shaanxi party committee and chairman of the Standing
Committee of the Xian Municipal People's Congress. He also worked at the CCDI from 1997 to 2001.
Yuan's successor, Wang, served his entire career in Jilin, becoming
provincial party chief in December 2012.
Wang's last reported public appearance was on August 20, when he met the
chief of state-owned China Tobacco.
Earlier this year at the National People's Congress, Wang was publicly
upbraided by anti-graft tsar Wang Qishan as he prepared to launch into a long
pre-written speech at the province's panel discussion. The news of the rebuke
was initially blocked online on the mainland, but has since appeared on local
search engines.
Jilin Governor Bayinchaolu would replace Wang as the province's party chief,
sources said.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Shanxi party boss to be replaced
the province's richest man.
Zhang is the founder of Shanxi Jinye Coking Coal, the company which is at the centre of a controversial deal with China Resources Power.
Yuan was promoted to Shanxi party chief in May 2010. Before that he served as
deputy secretary of the Shaanxi party committee and chairman of the Standing
Committee of the Xian Municipal People's Congress. He also worked at the CCDI from 1997 to 2001.
Yuan's successor, Wang, served his entire career in Jilin, becoming
provincial party chief in December 2012.
Wang's last reported public appearance was on August 20, when he met the
chief of state-owned China Tobacco.
Earlier this year at the National People's Congress, Wang was publicly
upbraided by anti-graft tsar Wang Qishan as he prepared to launch into a long
pre-written speech at the province's panel discussion. The news of the rebuke
was initially blocked online on the mainland, but has since appeared on local
search engines.
Jilin Governor Bayinchaolu would replace Wang as the province's party chief,
sources said.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Shanxi party boss to be replaced