Police chiefs and public security officials targeted. Many see in it an attempt to clear out officials loyal to ex Shanghai Party chief, Chen Liangyu.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – More senior Guangdong security officials have come under suspicion in an ongoing corruption scandal. Analysts’ believe that it is the latest episode in an attempt to eliminate the “Gang of Shanghai” following the imprisonment of ex Shanghai Communist Party (CCP) chief Chen Liangyu, on charges of having defrauded the party pension funds of billions of Yuan.

Official sources report that since August a vice-director of Guangdong's Public Security Department had been placed under internal supervision. The official, who headed the police force in Guangzhou between 1999 and 2005, has been relieved from daily work and told to hand over his travel documents. In April Chen Shaoji (see photo), who was Guangdong police chief for 13 years and then member of parliament, was arrested and accused of “grave violations of party discipline”.  Likewise Wang Huayuan, ex anti graft inspector Guangdong, was imprisoned and thrown out of the party.

But it appears that CCP inspectors have interviewed over 100 local party members and further developments are expected.  There is great trepidation across the province, also because many believe that what is in act is a clearing out of all of Chen Liangyu’s former collaborators. His case has been held up as the worst example of corruption in recent years and numerous public officials have been arrested and condemned in his wake.

Fear is so widespread that many believe that if this operation targets many more officials it will compromise polices being enacted by current Guangdong party chief, Wang Yang, to overcome the economic crisis.

 

• china
• corruption
• guangdong
• security
• chief
• politics
• communist
• party
• chen
• liangyu