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By Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Published: February 13 2011 06:46 | Last updated: February 13 2011 06:46
China’s minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, has been removed from the top position at the ministry and put under investigation for “severe disciplinary violations”, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
Mr Liu is the most senior Chinese official to come under investigation since the Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu was forced out of office in 2006 and later convicted to 18 years in prison for corruption.
Although the Xinhua report provided no details about the reason for the probe, it is likely to raise questions about China’s massive investment into high-speed rail, which Mr Liu spearheaded.
Mr Liu has been removed from his position as the Communist Party secretary at the railways ministry, Xinhua said, citing the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, its discipline watchdog. The public announcement of such investigations is usually the precursor for formal criminal charges.
This is not the first time that Mr Liu’s family has been involved in corruption probes. In 2006, his younger brother, Liu Zhixiang, who was then a senior railways official in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, received a suspended death sentence after being convicted of trying to hire an assassin to kill a man who had informed on him. He was also accused of embezzling $5m. Read More
Mr Liu is the most senior Chinese official to come under investigation since the Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu was forced out of office in 2006 and later convicted to 18 years in prison for corruption.
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Mr Liu has been removed from his position as the Communist Party secretary at the railways ministry, Xinhua said, citing the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, its discipline watchdog. The public announcement of such investigations is usually the precursor for formal criminal charges.
This is not the first time that Mr Liu’s family has been involved in corruption probes. In 2006, his younger brother, Liu Zhixiang, who was then a senior railways official in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, received a suspended death sentence after being convicted of trying to hire an assassin to kill a man who had informed on him. He was also accused of embezzling $5m. Read More
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