BEIJING: Shanghai’s top legislator is under investigation for corruption, making him the most senior official to be disgraced since the Communist Party wrapped up a major reshuffle last October.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Wednesday (Jul 12) that Dong Yunhu, head of the city’s lawmaking body, is being investigated for suspected violations of discipline and law – the usual euphemism for corruption. No further details were given.
Dong is the first minister-level official to be purged since the 20th party congress last October, according to Beijing Youth Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Youth League’s municipal committee in the capital.
Shanghai party chief Chen Jining convened a meeting on Wednesday evening to convey Beijing’s decision to place Dong under investigation, according to the official social media account of Shanghai’s municipal government.
“(We) fully support the central authority’s decision,” it said and called on everyone to learn from the case.
Dong, a seasoned propaganda chief, assumed his post as head of the standing committee of Shanghai’s people’s congress, the city’s legislature, in January.
Public records indicate that Dong was at work as usual on Monday and met experts from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences during an inspection visit.
Dong, 60, is a native of Zhejiang province in eastern China. After training as a philosopher, he started his career at the Communist Party school and managed its School of Marxism and Human Rights Research Centre.
This was followed by leadership posts in the party’s Central Propaganda Department and an appointment as head of the China Society for Human Rights Studies.
In 2011, Dong left Beijing to manage communication and propaganda work in the Tibet autonomous region, a source of tension for decades.
In 2015, he moved to Shanghai and rose from his position leading and managing propaganda work to serve as a political adviser and head of its legislative body.
Dong is also a published author, with several books on human rights research. His works include a 2011 study of the history and functions of human rights centres in various countries.
Before taking up his post of propaganda chief in Tibet, Dong was one of the authors of a 2008 compilation of facts and figures on the region. He also co-authored a book reviewing international human rights conventions that was published in 1990, while he was at the party school.
Hundreds of senior officials at ministerial level alone have been sacked across China since 2012, when President Xi Jinping launched his signature anti-corruption campaign targeting party, government, military and state-owned company officials.
When Xi secured an unprecedented third term as party secretary in October, he pledged that the drive would continue. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s top corruption-busting watchdog, signalled last month there would be no-let up in its campaign.
According to Beijing Youth Daily, Dong is the fifth minister-level official to be purged since last year. The others include former top judge Shen Deyong, who was investigated last March and pleaded guilty in May to taking US$9 million in bribes.
This article was first published on SCMP.
Source: CNA
