Chinese Officials Investigated

President Jiang Zemin’s campaign to stamp out rampant corruption - and political enemies - has accelerated with the announcement that a Politburo member is being investigated for corruption and that another high-ranking official has been posthumously stripped of his titles for embezzling $37 million.

The moves this week against top officials comes as the Communist Party conducts one of the largest shake-ups in its history, with thousands of party members losing their jobs.

But until Tuesday, the anti-corruption campaign seemed to be bypassing top leaders.

Then, the party’s disciplinary committee acknowledged what many had suspected: that Politburo member and Beijing party secretary Chen Xitong, one of the dozen or so most powerful figures in China, was under investigation for corruption.

Chen resigned as Beijing’s party boss in April after a vice mayor of Beijing, Wang Baosen, shot himself rather than face an investigation into his financial dealings and sexual dalliances.

Besides confirming that Chen was under investigation, the committee also released an unusually detailed report of Wang’s financial wrongdoings and his private life, at the same time posthumously kicking him out of the party and taking away his titles.

The three-month investigation concluded that he embezzled more than $37 million for himself, relatives, friends and mistresses.

“During his term of office, Wang abused his power, embezzled, squandered and diverted public funds … living a depraved life,” the report said.

“He was morally degenerated and lived a rotten life.”

At least $13 million of the embezzled money is unlikely to be recovered; it was diverted to Wang’s younger brother and others friends, who lost it in investments.

Many Chinese on Wednesday applauded the criticism as proof that the party was openly confronting corruption, which is probably the most corrosive threat to the party’s authority. After placing a virtual news blackout on Wang’s suicide, the party decision to admit that Wang had indeed committed crimes and that Chen probably did likewise was also seen as a sign that top officials were finally facing justice.

“It’s great that we kicked out a rotten egg like Wang,” said a senior member of the Public Security Bureau.

Others, however, said the men were undoubtedly corrupt but may have been singled out because they were disloyal to President Jiang. With leader Deng Xiaoping ill, Jiang and his rivals are vying for power through the anti-corruption campaign - and by hounding enemies.

Chen, for example, is widely believed to be an ally of Premier Li Peng, who could challenge Jiang for control of China when Deng dies. Both Chen and Li are closely associated with the 1989 massacre of hundreds of demonstrators near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

“China still doesn’t have rule of law,” said a leading newspaper editor. “The anti-corruption campaign has become politicized. If all corrupt cadres were really investigated, then you’d also have to look at the business dealings of other top leaders and their families, not just Wang’s and Chen’s.”