Former Chinese presidential aide Ling Jihua faces prosecution

Ling Jihua,  a one-time top aide to former president Hu Jintao, has officially been expelled from the Communist Party and will be criminally prosecuted on corruption charges, state media reported late Monday night.

An investigation launched into Ling, 58, in December found evidence that he had also violated “political rules” and organisational discipline, and failed to protect the secrets of the party and the state, Xinhua said.

China Central Television reported that the Supreme People’s Procuratorate would launch a criminal investigation into the corruption allegations.

It said he had been formally arrested.

The announcement comes just weeks ahead of the annual summer gathering of the party’s leadership and elders in Beidaihe, Hebei, for closed-door talks that will set the tone for major domestic issues.

Ling also allegedly took large bribes and sought profits for his close allies, Xinhua said. He was also accused of illegally acquiring a large amount of “core secrets” of the party and state.

In addition, Ling was accused of seeking benefits for his wife, trading his power for sex and having improper relationships with several women, Xinhua said.

“Ling’s behaviour is a complete deviation from the party’s tenets. He has severely violated party rules, and brought huge damage to the party’s image,” the report said.

Ling was once considered a rising political star  but his political career suffered a major blow from the controversial Ferrari crash in Beijing that killed his son  Ling Gu and badly injured two young women passengers in 2012.

Until 2012, Ling was the chief of the General Office of the party’s Central Committee and Hu’s personal secretary – a post that is thought to have put him at the centre of the  highest reaches of political decision making.

But he was given less high-profile positions after the crash. He was appointed a vice-chairman of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and head of the United Front Work Department.  

Ling, from coal-rich Shanxi  province, was named the head of the so-called Shanxi Gang by the media in January.

Additional reporting by Nectar Gan