China detains tycoon after media accusations of massive illegal mountain mine
- Qinghai authorities confirm that Xingqing chief Ma Shaowei is in custody and five officials have been sacked
- Ma accused of making billions from a coking coal operation in an area identified by the president as a conservation priority
Officials in Qinghai province announced on Sunday that Ma Shaowei, the low-profile owner of mining company Xingqing, had been detained and five officials in Haixi prefecture were sacked and placed under anticorruption investigation.
The announcement came after Economic Information Daily, a newspaper affiliated with state news agency Xinhua, reported last week that Xingqing made 15 billion yuan (US$2.15 billion) in profits over 14 years from the illegal coal mining operation in the Qilian Mountains.
According to the newspaper’s two-year investigation, Xingqing had mined coking coal on the Qinghai side of the mountain range since 2006 without a mining permit.
Li Jiexiang, the senior deputy governor of Qinghai, said on Sunday that initial investigations confirmed Xingqing had engaged in illegal mining.
Two task forces – one from the police and the other from the anticorruption agency – would investigate the scandal, he said.
“[The provincial] police and anti-graft agency task forces will conduct thorough investigations and will show no mercy to those who committed wrongdoings, no matter who or what rank they are,” official media quoted Li as saying.