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 | Friday, April 21, 2000, updated at 09:27(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Senior Chinese Lawmaker Expelled from CPCCheng Kejie, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) because of corruption charges.The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection made the announcement at a press conference Thursday. With the approval of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection proposed that Cheng be dismissed from his post as a deputy to the NPC and his position as a vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. As Cheng is suspected of violating China's Criminal Law, his case will be transferred to judicial departments, according to the announcement. Investigations by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection show that since the second half of 1992, Cheng had committed adultery Li Ping, who is married, and the two agreed to amass money for their future marriage. From the second half of 1992 to 1998, Cheng abused his post as chairman of the people's government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in pursuit of illicit profits and amassed an extremely large fortune in collaboration with Li Ping. From 1994 through 1997, with Li Ping acting as an intermediary, Cheng abused his power to grant Zhou Kun, an entrepreneur in Guangxi, with a low-priced land contract and helped Zhou's company to get a 188-million-yuan bank loan. In return, Cheng and Li accepted 17.3 million yuan and 8.04 million HK dollars of bribes from Zhou. In another case, Cheng got 2.2 million yuan in illicit profits by designating one company as the contractor of a construction project and helping another company to get bank loans. From 1994 to 1998, Cheng took 595,000 yuan, 35,000 US dollars and 20,000 HK dollars of bribes from 13 government officials, including a deputy secretary-general, surnamed Gan, of the people' s government of the autonomous region, and entrepreneurs who in return were given promotions and granted transfer of posts. During 1992-1997, at the request of Li Ping, Cheng helped Li and other merchants get land contracts and quotas for low-priced white sugar, fertilizer and vegetable oil. After further trading, illicit profits of some 9.03 million yuan were made. Cheng has acknowledged that the above-mentioned illicit profits were made by Li Ping and himself, and expressed his willingness to return all of the money to the state coffer. Yuan Chunqing, a spokesman for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said that as a senior government official, Cheng abused his power to take bribes and make huge amounts of illicit profits, turning himself into a typical corrupt official. The spokesman pointed out that Cheng's degeneration happened mainly because he abandoned his ideals and belief in communism, fell victim to the temptations of women and money, and took advantage of the power endowed by the Party and the people as a tool to make personal gains. Yuan added that every Party member and government official, especially those high-ranking ones, should learn from Cheng's case and stick to the three emphases of theoretical study, political awareness and honest conduct. He said that the investigation of Cheng's case demonstrates the determination of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core to rule the country in accordance with law and the principle that Party and government officials, no matter who they are, are subject to punishment if they violate the law.
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