The latest news reveals that Liu Shaoyong, the former chairman of Eastern Airlines at the time of the plane crash, has been prosecuted, with the prosecution stating that the amount of bribery involved is particularly significant. In March 2022, a plane crash occurred at Eastern Airlines, and four months later, Liu Shaoyong resigned (not retired) and was arrested last June.
According to a statement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on May 8th, the investigation into the case of Liu Shaoyong, former Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd., for alleged bribery, has been completed and transferred to the prosecuting authorities for review and prosecution. The prosecution has made an arrest decision on the alleged bribery charges against him and designated the Shenyang City People’s Procuratorate of Liaoning Province to review and prosecute the case. Recently, the prosecution has filed a lawsuit with the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenyang City.
The prosecution alleges that Liu Shaoyong used his positions as General Manager of China Eastern Airlines Company Limited, General Manager of China Southern Airlines Group Company and Chairman of China Southern Airlines Company Limited, General Manager and Chairman of China Eastern Airlines Group Company (later renamed as China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd.), and Chairman of China Eastern Airlines Company Limited to seek benefits for others, illegally accepting property from others, with an exceptionally large amount of money involved, and should be held criminally liable for bribery.
On June 28 last year, Liu Shaoyong was officially announced to be under investigation.
On March 21, 2022, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with the flight number MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou suddenly plunged almost vertically from 8,869 meters high over Wuzhou, Guangxi, resulting in the tragic death of all 123 passengers and 9 crew members on board. This was the most serious air safety accident in mainland China in nearly 30 years. On July 22, 2022, China Eastern Airlines Group announced that Chairman Liu Shaoyong resigned (did not retire).
Due to the rapid and vertical descent of flight MU5735, many mysteries remain. The Civil Aviation Administration released three progress reports on the investigation on April 20, 2022, March 20, 2023, and March 20, 2024, respectively, without specifying the cause of the accident. The reports only mentioned that “the accident was extremely complex and rare.” The Chinese authorities have not yet disclosed the final investigation report citing national security reasons.
On May 1 this year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States, under the Freedom of Information Act, released the investigation report of 2022, indicating that “engine speed decreased after fuel supply was cut off.” The NTSB had previously assisted the Chinese side in conducting the crash investigation, providing support for the possibility of the air disaster being a man-made event.
Public records show that Liu Shaoyong was born in November 1958 in Henan Province. In December 2000, he became the General Manager of China Eastern Airlines. In October 2002, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and in August 2004, he became the General Manager of China Southern Airlines, also serving as the Chairman of China Southern Airlines in November 2004. In December 2008, he took on the roles of General Manager and Chairman of Eastern Airlines and in December 2016, he became the Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Eastern Airlines.