China’s top anti-corruption body has punished a former senior official based in Beijing’s representative office in the Macau for what it called “serious disciplinary violations”, the usual euphemism for corruption.
According to Reuters the announcement comes just over a week before the party opens a crucial five-yearly party congress in Beijing, where President Xi Jinping is expected to consolidate power in a closely watched leadership reshuffle.
Li Gang, 62, who spent a decade as the deputy director of Hong Kong’s Liaison Office and later in Macau as director of Liaison Office before being appointed to China’s cabinet, or State Council, was put on probation for one year, the ruling Communist Party’s second most serious disciplinary action.
In a short statement late on Monday , the party’s graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said it had “approved a report on Li Gang’s serious discipline violation” for which he had been given the probation. It did not elaborate.
Li is one of the most senior mainland officials linked to Hong Kong and Macau to become ensnared in China’s anti-corruption campaign.
About 1.34 million low-ranking officials have been punished since 2013, the watchdog said on Sunday, in M Xi’s nationwide drive against corruption.
In 2012, Li moved from Hong Kong to Macau as deputy director of the Liaison Office and in 2014 became director of the office where he stays until 2016.
