Wang Xiaoguang admitted he was “addicted” to expensive orchids in a confession that was released by the anti-corruption agency. Photo: Handout
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https://scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3007384/chinese-ex-official-who-collected-rare-orchids-and-mao-tai Politics
Chinese ex-official who collected rare orchids and Mao-tai liquor jailed for 20 years for corruption
- Wang Xiaoguang, former vice-governor of Guizhou, was also hit with a record fine of US$26 million for taking bribes, embezzlement and insider trading
- Court heard that he amassed so many bottles of Mou-tai – a top brand of the Chinese spirit – baijiu through official duties that he began selling them
Wang Xiaoguang stands trial at the Chongqing Intermediate People’s Court in December. Photo: Handout
A former provincial vice-governor in southern China has been jailed for 20 years and fined a record 174 million yuan (US$26 million) for taking bribes, embezzlement and insider trading.
Handing down the sentence on Tuesday, the Chongqing Intermediate People’s Court said Wang Xiaoguang had taken advantage of his position to receive 49 million yuan in bribes.
It also said Wang had made illegal gains of 163 million yuan from insider trading of stocks between 2009 and 2016, and had embezzled 4.8 million yuan of government land sale proceeds in 2000.
Wang, who was vice-governor of Guizhou province during that period, pleaded guilty to all the charges when he stood trial in December.
The 57-year-old, who was known for his collection of rare orchids and Mao-tai rice wine, was fined 4 million yuan more than the previous highest penalty for such charges. That fine was imposed on Chen Shulong, former vice-governor of Anhui province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in early April after he admitted to taking bribes, abuse of power and insider trading.
In a statement, the court said it had been lenient in sentencing Wang because he “confessed to his crimes, provided information on other major cases and returned all of his ill-gotten gains”.
It was not known whether Wang would appeal, and the court did not respond to inquiries.
In footage of Wang’s confession released in September by the anti-corruption agency, the National Supervisory Commission, Wang admitted that he was “addicted” to expensive orchids.
But he also earned the nickname “the Mao-tai collector” for his huge collection of the top-shelf Chinese spirit baijiu, which is distilled from sorghum, wheat or rice.
The anti-corruption watchdog said he had amassed so many bottles of Mao-tai through his official duties that he began selling them – obtaining liquor licences for his relatives to run four stores in the Guizhou capital, Guiyang. His wife reportedly poured away “hundreds” of expensive bottles of the spirit before the agency closed in.
Wang Xiaoguang stands trial at the Chongqing Intermediate People’s Court in December. Photo: Handout
The graft-buster also condemned Wang’s “enthusiasm for reading politically incorrect overseas publications” – a veiled reference to books and journals on Chinese political gossip that are a popular purchase among mainlanders when they visit Hong Kong and go overseas.
Wang is the latest provincial official to be jailed amid a nationwide anti-corruption drive announced in 2012 that has snared more than 1.3 million party officials at various levels of government – from the powerful “tigers” to low-ranking “flies”.
He also has links to another disgraced “tiger”, Wang Sanyun, 66 – the former party chief of Gansu province who was jailed for 12 years and fined 4 million yuan on April 12 for accepting more than 66 million yuan in bribes.
Both men are from Heze, in Shandong province, and studied at the same teachers’ college in Guiyang. Wang Xiaoguang went on to become Wang Sanyun’s secretary when he was the party chief of Guiyang.