China, Nanjing mayor arrested on corruption charges
Nanjing (AsiaNews) - The Chinese
Communist Party has removed from office and immediately arrested the mayor of
Nanjing (Nanjing ) Ji Jianye , sending him to Beijing for an investigation for alleged
"economic crimes" . The
indictment is the euphemism by which central government bureaucrats indicate
corruption cases. According
to state media it is merely the latest in a series of moves in President Xi
Jinping's anti- corruption crusade, while some analysts speak instead of a
settling of scores within the Party , since Ji is very close to former
President Jiang Zemin.
In
fact, before becoming mayor of Nanjing in 2009 , Ji was first mayor and then
Party chief of Yangzhou, birthplace of former communist leader who is still
very influential within Chinese politics . As
transpires from the investigation, the charges against Ji ( 56 years old) were
laid by from Zhu Xingliang , famous industrialist of Jiangsu arrested for
bankruptcy last July who since decided to cooperate with the authorities . The
system of bribes with which the former mayor is charged earned him 22 million
yuan (about € 2 million ) .
In
his inaugural address as he took office to lead China, the new Secretary
General of the Party said he would target the " tigers and flies "
involved in corruption, a metaphor to indicate that people involved in
corruption at all levels would be punished. And
in recent months a string of arrests and investigations also at a high level
seems to confirm this aim. However,
according
to the great analyst Willy Lam and other experts in the country, the
proclamations of the Party against corruption are simply another method to
assert the power of the new President Xi Jinping .
.png)
