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Former justice minister Fu Zhenghua expelled from Chinese Communist Party in latest purge

WION Web Team
Beijing, ChinaUpdated: Apr 01, 2022, 12:46 PM IST

Former Justice Minister and deputy police chief Fu Zhenghua. (Image Courtesy: The China Echo) Photograph:(Twitter)

Story highlights

Former rising political star, Fu, was appointed to lead the investigation of China’s former security chief Zhou, who was sentenced life to prison in 2015 for power abuse and corruption

Beijing has expelled one of its high-profile former justice minister and deputy police chief Fu Zhenghua from the ruling Communist Party, calling him “extremely despicable” and accusing him of association with “political frauds”, state media reported.

Fu Zhenghua, 67, who reportedly helped in bringing down China’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang a few years ago, has been removed from public office for serious violations of party discipline and laws, according to news agency Xinhua, which attributed the decisions to Beijing’s top anti-graft body.

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The Chinese version of Thursdays’ announcement – which has been widely publicised across the country’s tightly controlled media- hinted Fu’s case was linked to that of Sun Lijun, who was also charged last year with severe “political ambition” and leading a corrupt and luxurious lifestyle.

“[Fu has] never been loyal to the party and the people; [he has] participated in Sun Lijun’s political gang; [he has] befriended several ‘political frauds’ for a long time,” the announcement said.

In October 2021, Fu was placed under investigation with “serious violations.” According to Dr Ling Li, a Chinese politics and law expert at the University of Vienna, said the fact that the matter now has been submitted to the procuratorate for prosecution “shows that the investigator is satisfied with whatever evidence they have obtained for the criminal charge and the prosecution”.

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Former rising political star, Fu, was appointed to lead the investigation of China’s former security chief Zhou, who was sentenced life to prison in 2015 for power abuse and corruption. However, some Chinese political observers interpreted Fu’s role indicating a tight relationship with country’s top leader, Xi Jinping.

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