Ex-Taiwan affairs cadre gets the axe from top Chinese advisory body
Zheng Lizhong, architect of the mainland’s economic concessions to self-ruled island, expelled from CPPCC
A former senior mainland Chinese official responsible for Taiwan affairs was removed from the country’s top advisory body, state media reported on Thursday.
Sources said Zheng Lizhong’s removal from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference could be a sign that he may be implicated in “economic crimes”, a common euphemism for corruption.
Zheng is a former executive vice-director of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office. He is also the vice-director of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, a post he has held since 2008.
In its main news programme last night, state-run CCTV reported that Zheng’s removal was approved at a CPPCC meeting chaired by its head, Yu Zhengsheng.
The report did not give a reason for Zheng’s departure but sources said it might be related to Zheng’s “economic problem”.
Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign
A source said Zheng had close ties with Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland, and had been under investigation for several months.