The Chinese regime’s anti-corruption authorities have announced the sacking of Wu Tianjun, a provincial-level Communist Party official in the central province of Henan. A former provincial head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, he was known among residents in Henan’s capital of Zhengzhou for overseeing many forced demolitions.
Wu had committed “severe violations of Party discipline,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) stated, using the ubiquitous charge that has cost hundreds of thousands of other officials their jobs since Chinese leader Xi Jinping began an ambitious anti-corruption campaign when he came to power in 2012.
According to Party media, Wu had often stated his property development aims to the media using slogans like “Create an international business capital” and “Construct a national-tier city that will serve as a regional center and an optimal living environment.”`
Residents of Zhengzhou bore the brunt of these development projects, having their houses demolished and being compensated at less the market market price.
Collusion between real estate developers and local officials is very common in China, which has focused much of its economy on a corruption-ridden and unsustainable property industry.
As provincial chief of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Wu was directly involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, according to human rights investigators. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that has been violently suppressed in China since 1999, and the PLAC is one of the main organizations responsible.
Xi Jinping’s administration has targeted many officials who had roles in the persecution of Falun Gong, including national-level leaders such as former PLAC head and security chief Zhou Yongkang.
(NTD Televison)
Featured image: Wu Tianjun as seen on local state-owned television.
