Twenty-five Communist Party of China (CPC) members, including eight officials at provincial department level, have been expelled from the Party and discharged from public employment for being involved in the Xiamen smuggling case.
Yuan Chunqing, spokesman for the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, made the announcement at a press conference here Wednesday afternoon. He added that the 25 people are among "the first batch prosecuted" and it is decided that their illicit gains be confiscated.
The eight officials that had been dismissed include: Liu Feng, deputy Party secretary of Xiamen City; Lan Fu, vice mayor of Xiamen; Yang Qianxian, head of the Xiamen Customs; Zhuang Rushun, deputy director of the provincial public security department of Fujian and concurrently director of the municipal public security bureau of Fuzhou; Jie Peiyong, deputy head of the Xiamen Customs; Chen Guorong and Chen Jianluan, president and deputy president of Fujian Provincial Branch of the Bank of China; and Ye Jichen, president of the Xiamen Municipal Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
He Yong, vice-secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and head of the group in charge of investigation of the smuggling case, briefed reporters on the investigation. He said the case "involved enormous sums of money, was extremely complicated and had caused most serious harms".
In mid-August of 1999, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council ordered the formation of the investigation group, which consists of personnel from such departments as the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Ministry of Supervision, the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the State Administration of Taxation.
Under the leadership of the provincial Party Committee of Fujian and with the support of local officials and residents, the investigators have brought the first batch of 25 cases to justice and trials of the 84 defendants began in mid-September in Xiamen, Fuzhou and other cities.
He Yong said that the investigation and prosecution of the Xiamen smuggling case is "another major achievement" in China's ongoing anti-smuggling and anti-corruption drive, which fully displays the firm determination of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to crack down on smuggling and corruption.
"It helps to safeguard China's reform, opening-up drive and social stability and is of tremendous economic and political importance," he said.
With the continuation of investigation work, a large number of criminals are expected to be prosecuted and more CPC members and government functionaries who were involved in the smuggling case will be subjected to disciplinary punishments accordingly.
(People's Daily 11/8/2000)
