High speed payoffs
Even without details, we can assume that when such a high-level official in China loses his job, the corruption was massive. The Party continues to publicize cases like this and its campaign against corruption, but the corruption is still commonplace: over 146,000 officials punished last year.China’s Railway Minister Loses Post in Corruption Inquiry
The railway minister of China, Liu Zhijun, has been removed from the top post in the ministry because he is being investigated for corruption… Mr. Liu is the most senior Chinese official to come under such investigation in years.See also: China's railway minister under investigation over "disciplinary violation"
Mr. Liu, 58, is being investigated for “severe violation of discipline,”… The report did not give details on the exact infractions.
Mr. Liu’s family has been dogged by charges of abuse of power. In April 2006, Mr. Liu’s younger brother, Liu Zhixiang, was given a suspended death sentence by a court in Hubei Province for hiring people to kill a man who had revealed that he was a corrupt official...
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Labels: China, corruption, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 5:50 AM
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Safety as well as the Party's reputation may be endangered.
China Rail Chief’s Firing Hints at Trouble
Liu Zhijun's abrupt sacking by the Communist Party is casting that empire in a decidedly different light, raising doubts not only about Mr. Liu’s stewardship and the corruption that dogs China’s vast public-works projects, but also, perhaps, the safety, financial soundness and long-term viability of a rail system that has captured the world’s attention…
Until last week, Mr. Liu had led China’s program to lace the nation with nearly 8,100 miles of high-speed rail lines and to build more than 11,000 miles of traditional railroad lines. The sheer size and cost of the endeavor — the investment has been estimated at $750 billion, some $395 billion for high-speed rail alone — has led experts to compare it to the transcontinental railroad that opened the American West…
There are some clues in top officials’ public statements since the scandal broke. Speaking on Monday in Beijing, the official who is believed to be the country’s new railways chief, Sheng Guangzu, said the ministry would “place quality and safety at the center of construction projects.” For good measure, he added that safety was his highest priority.
The statement underscored concerns in some quarters that Mr. Liu cut corners in his all-out push to extend the rail system and to keep the project on schedule and within its budget. No accidents have been reported on the high-speed rail network, but reports suggest that construction quality may at times have been shoddy…
The Communist Party has long worried that corruption may undermine its credibility with the public. But outside analysts agree that high-level officials are seldom sacked for corruption alone, in part because kickbacks, favoritism and other below-board activities are so common.
Russell Leigh Moses, a scholar of the Chinese leadership, said that Mr. Liu’s dismissal could signal disquiet over whether expansion of the rail system had gone too far, too fast.
“You don’t take someone down at that level of status unless they’ve done something really egregious,” said Mr. Moses, who works in Beijing. “I don’t know whether it’s politics or policy. But I wouldn’t rule out the second.”
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