Chinese vice-president Li Yuanchao’s former aide sacked for ‘corrupting others’
Communist Party expels Zhao Shaolin, accusing him of offering bribes to other top officials to further his son's property business
PUBLISHED : Friday, 14 August, 2015, 11:44pm
UPDATED : Friday, 14 August, 2015, 11:47pm
Jun Mai
[email protected]
Zhao Shaolin (right) allegedly helped his son build a business empire. Zhao was a top aide to Li Yuanchao (left) as well as former vice-premier Hui Liangyu when they headed the party in Jiangsu. Photos: SCMP Pictures
An associate of China's Vice-President Li Yuanchao was on Friday expelled from the Communist Party for forming political factions and "courting and corrupting other senior cadres".
The accusations levelled against Zhao Shaolin, former head of Jiangsu province's party committee secretariat, sparked speculation over whether other senior officials would be implicated.
Zhao was a top aide to Li as well as former vice-premier Hui Liangyu when they headed the party in Jiangsu.
The "courting and corrupting" accusation, in its official context, is usually used on bribe-paying businessmen and rarely on corrupt cadres. The term was last year used by party mouthpiece People's Daily to describe mafia boss Liu Han , who bribed several senior officials in Sichuan province.
Chinese Academy of Governance professor Wang Yukai said the accusations could mean Zhao's case was linked to higher officials. "I believe the term means [Zhao] paid bribes to other officials, even cadres of higher rank than him, so they gave the green light to his son's business," Wang told the South China Morning Post.
The disgraced official's son, Zhao Jin, a Tianjin-based real estate developer, allegedly used his government connections to cheat homeowners and intimidate angry buyers, financial news outlet Caixin reported in May.
The junior Zhao had close ties with the family of former Hebei party boss Zhou Benshun, who was sacked from the party last month, another financial news outlet, Caijing, said.
Zhao Jin's business spanned a large area, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Shandong and Zhejiang. He was detained in July last year and his father was taken away in October, eight years after he retired.
The senior Zhao allegedly joined his son in paying bribes, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said.
Zhao Shaolin also "formed cliques and factions within the party" and made public remarks against the party's campaign to increase scrutiny on cadres' discipline, according to the CCDI.
Jiangsu has seen three senior officials sacked in the corruption crackdown so far.
