The village that brought down Guangzhou's Cao Jianliao
The downfall of former Guangzhou senior official Cao Jianliao has been linked for the first time to the development of Zhujiang New Town
Disgraced former Guangzhou deputy mayor Cao Jianliao was part of a web of corruption on urban renewal involving senior government officials, village chiefs and property developers, according to new details of a graft case reported by state media yesterday.
It was the first time state media had given details of the Cao case, linking his downfall directly to the controversial redevelopment of Xian village, the focus of years of protests by village residents. When Cao was toppled last December, hundreds of the villagers lit firecrackers in celebration.
According to Xinhua, the corruption trail began last August when seven Xian village officials were investigated for graft in relation to the development of village land into the Zhujiang New Town project, the designated site for the city's central business district.
The village officials were tried in the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court and during the case evidence emerged of large bribes given to several senior Guangzhou city officials, the report said.
Xinhua reported that property developers Guangzhou Jiayu Group and Guangzhou Nanya Property Development allegedly paid money to village officials. Lu Youxing, former village deputy party secretary, received over 1.05 million yuan (HK$1.32 million), HK$80,000 and 7,000 yuan in shopping cards.
The trail then led to Cao and He Jixiong , deputy party secretary of Guangzhou's Co-operation Office. The city's disciplinary watchdog found that Cao and He took bribes from property developers that hoped the officials would use their influence to pressure villagers into giving away their land cheaply.
Apart from the bribes, Cao was also promised a commission on future property projects, a gesture of gratitude from the developers, according to the report.