China prosecutes ex-aide to vice-president for taking $71 million in bribe

Beijing, Aug 27 (EFE).- A former aide of the Chinese vice-president and ex-deputy head of the top anti-graft agency has been prosecuted for taking bribes worth $71 million, official media reported Friday.

Xinhua news agency said Dong Hong stood trial Thursday at the Intermediate People’s Court of Qingdao City in the eastern Shandong Province.

Until 2018, Dong was the deputy leader of the central inspection team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Communist Party’s top anti-corruption watchdog.

According to the prosecutor, Dong’s corrupt behavior began in 1999 with the bankruptcy case of the state-owned Guangdong International Trust and Investment Company.

He was then one of the top aides of Wang Qishan, the current vice president.

Dong has allegedly taken advantage of his various posts to seek benefits for relevant companies and individuals in project development, project contracting, and personnel promotions from 1999 to 2020.

The prosecutors alleged that he accepted bribes in leading positions on the Hainan provincial party committee, Beijing’s municipal government, the party’s Central Literature Research Office, and the CCDI’s central inspection team.

He has taken money and gifts worth about $70.9 million, the indictment stated.

The CCDI detained him last in October for “serious violations of law and party discipline,” a common euphemism for corruption in China.

Dong, who was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April this year, has pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

At that time, Xinhua noted that an investigation found Dong had violated the eight-point frugality code on the party and government conduct.

“He did so by entering private clubs in disregard of rules and attending banquets that may have compromised the fulfillment of his duties,” Xinhua said.

After coming to power in 2012, President Xi Jinping began an anti-corruption campaign in which several senior Chinese officials were convicted of accepting massive bribes.

Some of them have received life sentences.

The campaign, one of the flagship programs of Xi, has uncovered some high-profile cases of corruption within the party.

Some critics, however, say the government used the campaign to intimidate people and end the political careers of some of the rivals of Xi. EFE

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