Shanxi's military command could be targets on graft-busters' hit list, report says
Political magazine says the province's command could be in the firing line of national crackdown
The military command of energy-rich Shanxi could follow the provincial government in becoming the new focus of the country's massive anti-graft campaign, according to a state-owned political magazine.
The provincial military command could face the same "landslide corruption crackdown" that dismantled the provincial government last year, reported this week in a special feature on corruption within the military.
The magazine is affiliated with the Communist Party's and its report came out on Monday, just hours before governor Li Xiaopeng delivered his annual report to the provincial legislature.
According to Shanxi media reports, Li did not specifically mention any corruption-related issues in his 90-minute report, opting to focus instead on the province's economic development plan for the coming year, including a roughly 40 billion yuan (about HK$50 billion) investment in intercity rail projects.
Since an earlier provincial party committee meeting this year, Li has shared his power with his deputy, Gao Jianming, losing direct oversight of state-owned firms, anti-graft operations and audits in the province.
Since then, Li's main responsibility has been to focus on the overall management of his administration.
But the issue did come up on Tuesday when the provincial political advisory body held its annual conference, with Xue Yanzhong, chairman of the provincial political consultative conference, referring to corruption eight times in his opening speech.
