Downfall of Chen Liangyu is linked to allegations of pension fund mismanagement, abuse of power
China's ruling Communist Party has sacked Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu for his alleged involvement in the mismanagement of the city's social security fund, making him one of the most senior mainland leaders ever to fall in a corruption scandal.
Analysts say the high-profile sacking, announced yesterday, signals that President Hu Jintao feels confident in taking on the powerful 'Shanghai Gang' of leaders linked to the city as he tries to place his own people in key positions ahead of an important Communist Party meeting next year.
The leader of the mainland's commercial capital was believed to be under threat after revelations last month that Shanghai's labour chief, Zhu Junyi, had lent money from the 10-billion-yuan-plus fund to several projects based on personal links.
Party officials were now investigating Mr Chen, 59, and had removed him as Shanghai party secretary and from the party's 24-member Politburo following a meeting on Sunday, Xinhua said, announcing the decision.
'No matter who, no matter how high their post, those who violate party discipline and state laws will receive serious investigation and severe punishment,' Xinhua quoted the Communist Party Central Committee as saying.
More than a decade ago, Beijing party chief Chen Xitong was removed in a corruption scandal and a former National People's Congress vice-chairman, Cheng Kejie, was put to death in 2000 for accepting bribes. The former party secretary of the Guangxi region, Cao Bochun, was now under investigation for alleged corruption and keeping a mistress, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said yesterday.
