China’s religious affairs chief Cui Maohu under investigation for corruption
- The former Yunnan provincial official has also been dismissed from the post he was appointed to in June last year
- Cui is the third senior official to be placed under investigation this week along with two former banking chiefs
State news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that Cui Maohu, 57, has been placed under investigation for suspected severe violations of party discipline and the country’s laws, the customary euphemism for corruption.
A native of Yunnan province, Cui spent his entire political career in his home province until he was promoted to head the religious affairs body and made deputy head of the United Front Work Department in June last year.
It is customary for the religious affairs chief to be made a deputy director of the United Front Work Department, which is responsible for relations with non-Communist Party bodies at home and abroad.
Cui, a former teacher at a vocational school, started to climb up the political ladder when he was appointed deputy head of a small township in Qujing city in Yunnan in 1989.
For the next two decades he held a variety of administrative and personnel roles, becoming head of the provincial human resources and social welfare department in 2014.