IN yet another instance of politics triumphing over justice, President Jiang Zemin has apparently decided to wrap up the Chen Xitong affair - by not doing anything.
A moratorium, if not a blanket amnesia, has also been imposed on the handling of other high-profile corruption cases in the capital.
The detention last April of Chen, the former Beijing party secretary and Politburo member, had been trumpeted by the propaganda machinery as evidence the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) administration was finally ready to tackle the 'tigers', or big-time graft-takers.
Owing to a lack of consensus, the recent fifth plenum of the party Central Committee decided that further investigation should be made into his 'economic crimes'.
While Chen was kicked out of the Politburo, it was uncertain whether he would face criminal charges.
Mr Jiang's statements while touring government offices and factories in the Beijing municipality last week made it clear, though, that the leadership had shelved the case indefinitely.
