Ling Jihua arrested, expelled from CPC

World Today

Ling Jihua, top left, a loyal aide and confidante to President Hu Jintao, bottom right, sits behind Premier Wen Jiabao, bottom left, and Hu, bottom right, in this Sunday, March 11, 2012 file photo. They are at a plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Ling has been stripped of his party membership, removed from all government positions, and will be criminally prosecuted on corruption charges. The official Xinhua News Agency said Monday, July 20, 2015 that an internal investigation found that Ling used his position to seek benefits for others. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate has arrested and begun a bribery investigation of Ling Jihua, a former top aide to former president Hu Jintao.

Ling was the former vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee.

Earlier this year he had also been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and removed from public office by the the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The Bureau officially launched an investigation into Ling in December 2014.

The CPC said Ling seriously violated the political discipline and rules of the CPC, as well as the Party’s organizational and confidentiality discipline. He took advantage of his posts to seek profit for others and accepted huge bribes personally and through his family, according to a statement released after the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Ling also obtained a great deal of the Party and state’s core secrets in violation of laws and discipline. He violated regulations on integrity and self-discipline, accepting others’ money and belongings personally and through his wife, and sought benefits for his wife’s businesses.

Ling also committed adultery with a number of women and traded his power for sex, the statement added.

Ling’s acts completely deviated from the CPC’s nature and purpose, seriously violated the Party’s discipline and severely undermined the Party’s image, with extremely bad social influence, the statement said.

Story by Xinhua