A Sichuan official who became deputy mayor of Mianyang after being promoted for his efforts in the wake of the 2008 earthquake has been taken away for interrogation by the provincial party disciplinary committee, the Dongfang Daily reported yesterday.
The publicity department of the Communist Party's Mianyang branch told the Shanghai newspaper on Thursday that Liao Ming - vice-mayor in charge of planning, construction, housing management, environmental protection and foreign investment - had been detained a few days earlier.
While the paper said Liao's colleagues were told it had nothing to do with his rebuilding work in the aftermath of the 8-magnitude quake, postings on the internet said investigators found cash and antiques worth more than 100 million yuan (HK$119 million) in Liao's home.
Professor Ren Jianming, deputy director of Tsinghua University's Anti-corruption and Governance Research Centre, said that if Liao had wasted public funds or cut corners in the reconstruction work, it would touch one of the most sensitive nerves in mainland society and dwarf other corruption cases.
'The difference is in the public anger it would trigger,' Ren said. 'People already suspect that poor building quality resulted in many unnecessary deaths during the earthquake. People will be extremely angry if the same problem occurred in the reconstruction as a result of corruption.
'And the government's credibility will suffer a huge blow.'