The state-run media of the Chinese Communist Party began airing a series of anti-corruption documentaries for four consecutive nights starting from January 5th. According to the preview, former Chinese Minister of Justice Tang Yijun and several other high-ranking officials publicly appeared to confess. This is the first time they are confessing on television since their downfall.
The four-part anti-corruption TV series was jointly produced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s Propaganda Department and China National Radio, and started airing on China Central Television’s prime time slot at 8 p.m. The documentary selected 12 cases, with Tang Yijun appearing in front of the camera saying, “Looking at my actions, I am truly ashamed and have no face to show.”
Former Party Secretary of Guizhou Province, Sun Zhigang, confessed, stating, “I crossed the bottom line, committed serious mistakes and crimes.”
Former Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation, Wang Yilin, who appeared on camera confessing, said, “I became a corrupt official, and fell into the hands of a political scam artist, and now I am disgraced.”
Tang Yijun was ousted in April last year.
According to reports from mainland financial news, insiders revealed that Tang Yijun was taken away on the afternoon of March 28 last year. Around 3 p.m. that day, Tang Yijun was attending an internal meeting of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference when he was informed that there was a phone call for him. As soon as he left the meeting room, the investigators from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection took him directly to Beijing.
Someone close to the Ministry of Justice said that during Tang Yijun’s tenure as the Minister of Justice, he coincidentally encountered the pandemic and had almost “no presence,” “did not understand the law, and did not do much.”
The report from Caixin also exposed Tang Yijun’s involvement with Evergrande. However, the report was later deleted.
Wang Yilin was investigated in February last year. The Inner Mongolia prosecutor’s office filed charges against Wang Yilin for alleged bribery in November last year.
The cases of Tang Yijun and Wang Yilin have not yet been brought to trial in the first instance.
Former Party Secretary of Guizhou Province, who accepted bribes totaling over 813 million RMB, has been sentenced to death with a reprieve.
Also appearing to confess on camera was former Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, and Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Cui Maohu, who said that he did not pay much attention to trivial matters, and eventually, the small matters turned into big issues. He has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Furthermore, former Vice Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Sun Shutao (sentenced to life imprisonment), and former Deputy Party Secretary and Deputy General Manager of China National Petroleum Corporation, Xu Wenrong (sentenced to 14 years), also appeared to confess.