bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jun Mai

A senior official in southern China has hung himself in his apartment, according to a news website report.
Liu Xiaohua, a former Communist Party chief in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, killed himself on Sunday afternoon, according to Nyms114.com, a news outlet based in the city.
The reason why he took his own life is unclear, according to the report.
Liu, 57, killed himself in Guangzhou where he had been reassigned.
China’s anti-graft investigation of Guangdong’s vice-governor ‘linked to Dongguan’s sex trade’
There have been several cases of officials committing suicide who were facing investigation for corruption.
It is also common practice to move cadres out of their power base before officially placing them under investigation.
Liu had been party boss in Zhanjiang for five years. His most recent job was as deputy director of the general office of the province’s party committee.
The reassignment of Liu took place in March, one month after the party announced a corruption probe into Liu Zhigeng, the province’s former vice-governor. His case was handed over to provincial prosecutors in April.
China’s Communist Party shows the door to ‘superstitious’ former vice-governor
Both men, who are not known to be related, are from ethnic-Hakka dominant Xingning county under the jurisdiction of the city of Meizhou in Guangdong.
Meizhou is a centre for many powerful cadres in the province, Netease reported.
The cluster of officials with ties to the city have been referred to as the Hakka Gang in the media due to their strong network and influence over the province, despite the comparatively humble economic status of the region compared to other areas in the Pearl River Delta.
Another cadre who worked in Meizhou for eight years, Li Jia, was also placed under investigation for alleged graft in March. Li was also a former Communist Party boss in Zhuhai.
The anticorruption campaign in Guangdong, part of the sweeping national initiative against graft, has seen a handful of senior officials from Meizhou sacked.
Lavish lifestyle of disgraced Guangzhou party chief Wan Qingliang to feature on anti-graft TV series
The most prominent was Wan Qingliang, the governor of the province.
He was placed under investigation for corruption last June.
Wan, a Hakka born in Meizhou, stood trial last December.
His sentence has yet to be announced.


Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Former chief of China’s food and drug watchdog ousted from Communist Party

‘No soil for corruption’: China’s Chen Weijun latest among Xinjiang officials investigated

Deadly boat accident cover-up reveals corruption in China’s fishing industry

Corruption in China

Senior official in southern Chinese province hangs himself

Liu Xiaohua, a former Communist Party chief in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, killed himself on Sunday, according to a news website report. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

China

Politics

Media speculation that Liu Xiaohua was about to come under investigation for corruption


New | Senior official in southern Chinese province hangs himself

Media speculation that Liu Xiaohua was about to come under investigation for corruption