Former rising political star Sun Zhengcai jailed for life for taking over $26 million in bribes
Once seemingly destined for the highest levels of power, Sun will now spend the rest of his life behind bars
Just last year Sun Zhengcai was in the running to become one of the most powerful men in China. Now, he’s been sentenced to life in prison for bribery.
Sun had been riding high as the Communist Party head of the booming metropolis of Chongqing. However, last June he was abruptly replaced by another rising political star. The following month, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced that it was carrying out an investigation into Sun for “suspected serious violations of discipline.”
In September, China’s official Xinhua news agency announced that Sun had been expelled from the Communist Party and would be prosecuted for a range of alleged offenses, including leaking party secrets, abusing his power to seek advantage for others, taking expensive gifts, and exchanging power for sex.
Xinhua said that Sun had “abandoned the party’s aims” and “seriously trampled upon the party’s political discipline,” also calling him “corrupt and degenerate,” not to mention “lazy and inactive.”
In January, it was announced that Sun had been indicted on charges of “taking advantage of his posts to seek profit for others and illegally accepting huge amounts of money and property” while serving as a government official.
China’s criminal conviction rate stands at nearly 100%, and that figure is even higher when it comes to cases of high-level government corruption, which are often carefully-choreographed affairs.
For instance, Sun’s trial, which took place on April 12th, took less than half a day and updates about the trial proceedings were broadcast live on Weibo, with Sun’s confession aired on state television.
On Tuesday, the Tianjin court announced that Sun had been found guilty of taking bribes of more than 170 million yuan ($26.7 million) over a period of 15 years (2002–2017), during which time he held a number of important posts in Beijing, Jilin province, and Chongqing.
However, the court also noted that Sun had confessed to his wrongdoings, showed repentance, and had been cooperative in returning his ill-gotten gains. Because of this “positive” attitude, he was given life imprisonment, rather than being handed a harsher sentence.
Sun’s sudden downfall occurred just before the much-anticipated 19th Party Congress. Sun was the youngest of the 25-member 18th Politburo, and many believed that he was destined to be moved up to the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
Chongqing is the old stomping grounds of none other than Bo Xilai, China’s most famous fallen cadre whose political ambitions were crushed in 2012 after a dramatic corruption scandal surrounding himself and his family came to light following the salacious murder of British businessman Neil Heywood by Bo’s wife Gu Kailai, ending with the couple being sentenced to life in prison.
It’s been reported that China’s top leaders had criticized Sun for not doing enough to distance himself from Bo. Only days after taking over Sun’s old post, Chen Miner, a favorite protégé of Xi Jinping, would demand that Chongqing officials do away with the “evil legacy” of Bo.
