China’s Communist Party expels former veteran justice minister over graft claims
Wu Aiying one of a dozen Central Committee members dumped ahead of key national congress in Beijing this week
China’s Communist Party has expelled the country’s former long-serving justice minister, confirming her fall from grace over unspecified corruption charges just days before thousands of party members gather in Beijing for a twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle.
Wu Aiying, 65, disappeared from public view in February when she was dismissed by the country’s legislature after 12 years at the head of the Ministry of Justice.
In a statement late on Saturday at the end of a four-day meeting, the party’s powerful Central Committee said it decided to expel Wu after reviewing the results of an investigation by the party’s anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
The CCDI said Wu – only the second woman to hold the post since 1949 – had “serious discipline problems”, a euphemism for corruption.
Beijing has not said whether Wu will face further punishment but political observers and state-backed media said Wu should be held responsible for the decline of the country’s legal system over the last decade and the promotion of Lu Enguang, a corrupt official who reportedly lied about his qualifications to become a political department head at the ministry on Wu’s watch.