Chinese internet regulator sacked and expelled from party over graft
Gao Jianyun was official in high-level taskforce chaired by President Xi Jinping
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 27 September, 2014, 4:35am
UPDATED : Saturday, 27 September, 2014, 4:35am
Adrian Wan [email protected]
Gao Jianyun sought and accepted huge bribes among other serious disciplinary violations.
A senior internet regulator has been dismissed and expelled from the Communist Party for corruption, the party's anti-graft watchdog announced on its website.
Gao Jianyun - an assistant bureau-level official of a taskforce under the newly established central leading group for internet security and informatisation - sought and accepted huge bribes among other serious disciplinary violations, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said.
The leading group, set up in February, is a top party panel on internet security and technology. It is headed by President Xi Jinping , with Premier Li Keqiang and senior official Liu Yunshan as its deputy heads. The taskforce is operated by the State Internet Information Office, where Gao was deputy chief.
Authorities announced in April they were probing Gao.
The investigation found that Gao used his position to make profit for others, and asked for and took huge bribes, the commission said in a statement yesterday.
It is unclear how he took bribes and how much was involved.
Apart from keeping mistresses - and a son - Gao also tried to reach an agreement with a crime figure not to give each other away, and to join forces with another person against the authorities' probe into his affairs. The statement did not mention names or specify whether the same person was involved in the two cases.
It was not clear what Gao's duties were in the leading group, but positions he held previously, such as deputy director of the fifth bureau of the International Communication Office of the party's Central Committee, dealt with internet publicity and censorship.
The fifth bureau handles internet censorship, regulation and expanding the government's voice on the internet.
Gao's acts constituted crimes, and his case would be handed over to the judiciary for prosecution, the statement said.
Li Wufeng , a deputy director of the State Information Office and Gao's former superior, leapt to his death from his Beijing office in March, about a month before the authorities announced that Gao was being investigated.
