What’s new: A former justice minister has come under a graft probe, China’s top anti-corruption agency announced Tuesday.
Tang Yijun is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a one-line statement. This is a common euphemism for corruption.
Tang’s last public appearance was on March 22, when he attended a study session organized by the Jiangxi provincial party committee, according to a report from the local Communist Party-run Jiangxi Daily. He has been serving as chairman of the Jiangxi provincial political advisory body since January 2023.
The background: Tang, 63, worked in the eastern province of Zhejiang for nearly four decades, with 12 years spent in the coastal city of Ningbo. In 2017, he was made deputy provincial party chief of Northeast China’s Liaoning province. In 2018, he was named the province’s governor.
Tang became the chief of the country’s Ministry of Justice in April 2020, succeeding police veteran Fu Zhenghua. Fu was given a suspended death sentence in 2022 after being convicted of accepting some $16 million in bribes.
Wu Aiying, who served as justice minister from 2005 to 2017, was expelled from the Communist Party of China in 2017 for “serious breach of party discipline.” No specific details were revealed at the time regarding her wrongdoings.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
