What’s new: Liu Xingtai, one of the vice chairmen of Hainan province’s legislature and the deputy secretary of its top Communist Party body, has fallen under a graft probe, the country’s top anti-corruption agency announced Wednesday.
Liu, who previously served as vice governor of the tropical island province and chief of its political and legal affairs commission, is being investigated for suspected “serious violations of discipline and law,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement. The phrase is a common euphemism for corruption. The statement did not offer further details on Liu’s suspected wrongdoing.
Liu’s last public appearance was on May 6, when he attended a meeting of the provincial legislature’s standing committee. He did not attend a meeting the committee held on Monday, according to an article published by the legislature.
The background: Liu, 61, began his career in his home province of Shandong in East China, where he spent two decades working his way up from being an agricultural machinery technician to the chief of Shandong’s Wudi county. He then served in roles including mayor and party chief of the city of Rizhao and deputy chief of the organization department of the Shandong provincial party committee.
Liu was transferred to Hainan in 2018, where he served as vice governor for less than a year and was named deputy secretary of the provincial people’s congress standing committee in April 2022.
Liu Cheng, a former subordinate of Liu Xingtai at the Hainan party committee’s political and legal affairs commission, was investigated by graft busters in May 2022 and expelled from the party November that year.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
