Former senior Chinese security official Sun Lijun charged with taking ‘huge’ bribes

Sun, who is also accused of ‘serious’ market manipulation and illegal firearms possession, will stand trial soon, according to state media

His case is set to feature along with that of other former officials in a new anti-corruption documentary series

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Sun Lijun has been formally charged with corruption. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:11pm, 13 Jan 2022Updated: 11:33am, 15 Jan 2022

Corrected [11:31am, 15 Jan, 2022]

[11:31am, 15 Jan, 2022]
An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Sun Lijun as a former security minister. He is a former vice-minister.

Prosecutors in northeast China have officially charged Sun Lijun, a former public security vice-minister, with accepting a “huge amount” of bribes, market manipulation and the illegal possession of firearms.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Sun, 53, was indicted by state prosecutors in Changchun in Jilin province and will face trial soon.

His case is one of the most high-profile corruption cases involving the security apparatus in recent years following the arrest and jailing of former Interpol president Meng Hongwei.

According to the indictment, Sun is accused of taking advantage of his position to accept “particularly large sums” throughout his career in cities including Shanghai and Beijing.

Sun is also charged with “particularly serious” manipulation of the securities market and the illegal possession of firearms.

On Thursday he appeared in the trailer for a new documentary series on corruption, which showed him dressed in a black prison uniform saying: “I never thought that I would become a destroyer of the rule of law, or fairness and justice”.

Two other officials, former Guizhou deputy party chief Wang Fuyu and Hangzhou party boss Zhou Jiangyong also appeared in the trailer, confessing wrongdoing and expressing remorse.