u***r
发帖数: 4825 | 1 Graft Probe Sinks China Railway Chief
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870384300457614141
BY AARON BACK
BEIJING—Chinese authorities are investigating the railways minister for "
serious infractions," state media said, heralding the downfall of a powerful
official who presided over the building of the world's largest high-speed
rail network.
Liu Zhijun has been stripped of his position as top Communist Party official
at the Ministry of Railways, the official Xinhua news agency reported on
Saturday. Among Chinese officials, the party position is more important than
the government position.
Xinhua gave no further details of the investigation or the nature of the
suspected infractions, but such announcements usually indicate corruption, a
scourge of modern Chinese society that the | I***e
发帖数: 76 | 2 BEIJING—Chinese authorities are investigating the railways minister for "se
rious infractions," state media said, heralding the downfall of a powerful o
fficial who presided over the building of the world's largest high-speed rai
l network.
Liu Zhijun has been stripped of his position as top Communist Party official
at the Ministry of Railways, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sa
turday. Among Chinese officials, the party position is more important than t
he government position.View Full Image
0213cminister01
Associated Press
Mr. Liu was in the job since 2003.
0213cminister01
0213cminister01
Xinhua gave no further details of the investigation or the nature of the sus
pected infractions, but such announcements usually indicate corruption, a sc
ourge of modern Chinese society that the Communist Party itself warns could
jeopardize its hold on power by fueling popular anger. The rail network invo
lves billions of dollars in foreign contracts.
The cloud now hanging over Mr. Liu, who was appointed minister in 2003 and i
s a member of the powerful Central Committee of the Communist Party, could h
ave a significant political impact in a continental-sized country where the
state train monopoly is the economic lifeline.
China relies on diesel trains for much of its freight transport, including c
oal. Accelerated investment in high-speed passenger trains was the centerpie
ce of a massive state investment program aimed at lifting China out of the r
ecent global economic crisis. Among the beneficiaries are foreign companies
such as Siemens AG, Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc., though foreign train make
rs complain—if often only privately—that China has copied much of their te
chnology, leaving the big profits to be shared among Chinese state-owned ind
ustrial groups.
China's leadership frequently vows to step up the battle on corruption, but
there is little to indicate its efforts are becoming more effective, and man
y people think the problem is worsening.
In January, President Hu Jintao acknowledged the difficulties, warning at a
meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's ant
igraft body, that the party faces a "grave situation and arduous tasks," and
vowing to "combat graft strictly and punish corrupt officials severely" to
win public trust, according to Xinhua.
Mr. Liu's younger brother Liu Zhixiang was convicted by a Chinese court in 2
006 of taking bribes and arranging the murder of a person who reported on hi
s actions to authorities, according to a report by Xinhua at the time. The y
ounger Mr. Liu, who was deputy head of the rail ministry in the central city
of Wuhan—one of China's main railway hubs—was given a suspended death sen
tence.
View Full Image
0213cminister02
Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press
A high-speed train in Shanghai. China is spending hugely on its rail network
, but the recent holiday rush showed a gap between the promise and the reali
ty.
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0213cminister02
It was not clear if the investigation against Liu Zhijun is related to his b
rother's conviction.
"He has made a great contribution to the railway industry. He is a very prud
ent person, but can't manage his family well. His younger brother used his p
ower to do wrong," said an academic expert on the railway industry, who aske
d not to be identified. "So later in the last few years, he felt very ashame
d, and spent all his efforts to try to make up for that."
In one recent high-profile corruption case, the former general manager of Ch
ina's largest nuclear-power company, the state-owned China National Nuclear
Corp., was sentenced to life in prison. Kang Rixin accepted bribes worth nea
rly $1 million, according to Xinhua.
In another case, the former head of China's food and drug watchdog, Zheng Xi
aoyu, was executed in 2007 for taking bribes from eight pharmaceutical compa
nies.
Sheng Guangzu, currently head of the General Administration of Customs, has
been appointed to replace Mr. Liu as secretary of the Ministry of Railways C
ommunist Party leadership group, Xinhua said.
The Ministry of Railways has long been the focus of public criticism. It has
escaped much of the bureaucratic reengineering aimed at modernizing governm
ent over the past 30 years or so of economic reform. Tens of millions of Chi
nese have been riding the trains over the past several weeks during the Luna
r New Year holiday, putting up with overcrowded compartments, ticket scalper
s and weather delays.
powerful
official
than
【在 u***r 的大作中提到】
: Graft Probe Sinks China Railway Chief
: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870384300457614141
: BY AARON BACK
: BEIJING—Chinese authorities are investigating the railways minister for "
: serious infractions," state media said, heralding the downfall of a powerful
: official who presided over the building of the world's largest high-speed
: rail network.
: Liu Zhijun has been stripped of his position as top Communist Party official
: at the Ministry of Railways, the official Xinhua news agency reported on
: Saturday. Among Chinese officials, the party position is more important than
| s****i
发帖数: 1593 | 3 "So later in the last few years, he felt very ashamed, and spent all his
efforts to try to make up for that."
这句话还是比较有意思的。
等着看时间表了。 |
|
