Senior Official of Chinese State-Owned Shipbuilding Company Sacked for Corruption

Cathy He
By Cathy He
December 18, 2018China News
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Senior Official of Chinese State-Owned Shipbuilding Company Sacked for Corruption
China's second aircraft carrier, is transferred from the dry dock into the water during a launch ceremony at Dalian shipyard in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 26, 2017. China has launched its first domestically designed and built aircraft carrier, state media said on April 26, as the country seeks to transform its navy into a force capable of projecting power onto the high seas. / AFP PHOTO / STR / CHINA OUT (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The deputy head of the state-owned company developing China’s first home-built aircraft carrier has been fired and expelled from the Communist Party, following a corruption probe that found he had accepted bribes and abused his power.

Sun Bo, who was general-manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIS), was accused of abusing his power, harming the interests of CSIC  and “causing great damage to the national interest,” the Chinese regime’s anti-corruption body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said in a statement on Dec. 17.

The statement said that Sun used his position to obtain benefits for his family and friends, and accepted bribes. He was also uncooperative during the investigation and engaged in “feudalistic superstitious activities,” according to the statement.

The CCDI added that it would seize Sun’s illegal income and refer his case to the judicial bodies.

CSIC did not immediately respond to Reuters’s requests for comment on Dec. 18, while Reuters was not able to contact Sun.

The CCDI had said in June it was investigating Sun who was suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations.

The South China Morning Post newspaper, citing two sources close to the Chinese military, said on Dec. 17 that Sun was investigated for allegedly passing confidential information about the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, to foreign intelligence agents. Sources told the paper that Sun could face the death penalty as a result.

CCDI’s statement did not mention this allegation.

Sun, who made his career within the Dalian shipbuilding industry, rose to the party leadership at CSIC in 2009. He served as chairman for Dalian Shipyard Group, and deputy general manager of CSIC before being promoted to general manager in 2015.

CSIC is one of China’s largest shipbuilders and is currently developing the first home-grown aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, at its facilities in the northeastern port city of Dalian, Liaoning Province.

The design for the carrier draws on experiences from the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China. CSIC’s subsidiary, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, worked on the refurbishment.

The Liaoning, which went into commission for the People’s Liberation Army Navy in 2012, became combat-ready in November 2016.

The Type 001A, launched earlier this year, is currently undergoing sea trials and is projected to be commissioned in late 2019.

This is not the first time CSIC has caught the attention of the Chinese regime’s corruption watchdog. In 2015, the CCDI launched a special investigation into the shipbuilder and found that its research institute had prominent “violations of party discipline,” and criticized the department’s poor accounting practices and financial management.

In September 2017, the then head of discipline inspection at CSIC, Liu Changhong, was sacked and expelled from the Communist Party after an investigation by the CCDI. The watchdog accused Liu of taking bribes and referred his case for prosecution.

China’s powerful graft watchdog has investigated and punished thousands of government and state employees in its campaign against corruption, which has been championed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times

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