March 29, 2024

China Expands Inquiry on Graft to Oil Executives

On Tuesday, the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China said on its Web site that three oil executives — Li Hualin, a deputy general manager of China National Petroleum; Ran Xinquan, a vice president of PetroChina, the company’s listed unit; and Wang Daofu, the chief geologist of PetroChina — were “suspected of grave violations of discipline and are currently undergoing investigation,” by an anti-corruption agency. PetroChina also announced that the three men were under investigation and had resigned “due to personal reasons.”

A day earlier, authorities revealed an investigation into a deputy general manager of China National Petroleum, Wang Yongchun, for suspected “disciplinary violations,” generally considered to be corruption, embezzlement or taking bribes.

The investigations indicate that the Communist Party’s effort to fight corruption extends beyond the government to powerful parts of the state-dominated economy. The party leader, Xi Jinping, came to power in November with promises that he would rein in official corruption and self-enrichment, which has become a major source of public discontent.

On Tuesday, the Communist Party’s Politburo, a council of 25 senior leaders, approved a five-year plan to curb corruption, the official news agency, Xinhua, reported. The report did not give details of the plan, but the official summation of the Politburo meeting noted that the party would “sternly investigate and punish violations of party rules and laws by party members and officials,” and “give full play to deterrent force.”

Looming over this case is the recent trial of Bo Xilai, the former Politburo member, accused of taking bribes, embezzling and abusing his power to protect his wife from murder allegations. The trial of Mr. Bo, spread over five days and reported in unusual detail through a court microblog, highlighted what many citizens see as the brazen greed of China’s political elite. A verdict is expected in early September.

“I think there’s a dynamic here that suggests this may prove to be a more rigorous crackdown than we’ve seen for years,” said Andrew Wedeman, a professor of political science at Georgia State University in Atlanta who researches corruption in China. “Way too many officials have been wearing Rolex watches and driving Mercedes.”

China’s oil sector has long been the domain of powerful party officials, making any investigations politically thorny. For example, Zhou Yongkang, a former general manager of China National Petroleum, later became the head of China’s domestic security organization, retiring last year. Such close ties have prompted speculation about whether powerful party figures could be ensnared in the inquiries.

China National Petroleum “is a huge company, China’s biggest energy company, but these people being investigated aren’t the highest in the company,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University in eastern China. “It’s relatively sensitive because ordinary people have so many complaints about the monopoly behavior of C.N.P.C. and other oil companies.”

But many observers are skeptical that officials have the will and the power to investigate their colleagues, who can appeal to patrons for protection from inquiries. Typically, corruption inquiries are initially carried out by party agencies, which then decide whether to hand over the matter for criminal investigation.

“It’s a challenge, because there’s an awful lot of power concentrated in these people’s hands,” said Professor Wedeman, the expert on corruption in China. “That concentration gives them the power to engage in corruption, and the power to cover it up.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/business/global/china-expands-inquiry-on-graft-to-oil-executives.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

China to Investigate Top Economic Policy Maker

The agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party, which runs corruption inquiries involving senior officials, said Mr. Liu was “suspected of grave violations of discipline, and is now under investigation by the organization,” according to a report from Xinhua, the state news agency.

The report came more than five months after the journalist, Luo Changping, boldly challenged Mr. Liu and investigators by publicly accusing Mr. Liu of shady business deals and other wrongdoing like threatening to kill his mistress and overstating his academic qualifications. Mr. Luo laid out the charges on the Internet in early December. They lingered there, despite a denial by a spokesman for Mr. Liu and the power of censors to erase the postings, which fanned a public uproar.

Yet for months it appeared that Mr. Liu might survive the scandal. Since 2008, he has been a deputy chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, an agency that oversees many areas of economy policy. Until March, he was also head of the National Energy Administration, and he made several public appearances after Mr. Luo made the accusations, according to Chinese news reports.

The Xinhua report did not detail the official allegations against Mr. Liu. But Mr. Luo, a deputy editor of Caijing Magazine in Beijing, said he was sure they were related to his accusations.

“I know there’s a direct connection, but I can’t say any more,” Mr. Luo said in a telephone interview.

“I had felt panicky before because nothing was happening, but I’ve breathed a sigh of relief now that this has happened,” he said, referring to the inquiry.

Mr. Liu, 58, could become a trophy in the effort by China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, to persuade disenchanted citizens that he is serious about ending abuses by officials. Since becoming party chief in November, Mr. Xi has vowed to clamp down on corruption, extravagance and self-enrichment; he has said both “flies” and “tigers” — junior and senior officials — would come under scrutiny.

Other officials under investigation for corruption and other crimes include Bo Xilai, a former Politburo member whose wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted and in August given a death sentence, which was then suspended, on charges of murdering a British businessman. In April, the former railway minister, Liu Zhijun, was charged with corruption and abuse of power.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection wields broad powers to detain officials and pursue secretive inquiries. In serious cases, the commission can hand officials over to the police and prosecutors to be investigated on criminal charges, which almost always end in convictions and sentences by party-run courts.

Despite Mr. Luo’s apparent vindication, Chinese leaders are wary of letting the public seize the initiative in fighting corruption. “What I really hope to see is more change at the institutional level to fight corruption, not just focusing on individual cases,” Mr. Luo said.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/world/asia/china-eyes-liu-tienan-an-official-challenged-by-a-journalist.html?partner=rss&emc=rss