Ling Jihua, once political advisor to former Chinese president Hu Jintao, is to face trial in Tianjin for obtaining state secrets, corruption, as well as abuse of power, state newswire Xinhua reported on Friday.
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Ling’s downfall began three years ago after his only son was killed in a scandalous vehicle crash.
Ling used his many high-ranking positions in government as a way to solicit bribes, seek favours for friends and illegally obtain state secrets, the prosecutor said, without specifying the nature of the secrets.
The accusations against Ling are “extremely serious”, the country’s senior prosecutor said on its website, suggesting a lengthy sentence is likely.
Ling was placed under investigation in late 2014 and was formally arrested in July 2015. The prosecutor said authorities had informed Ling about his rights in line with the law, questioned him and heard “opinions” from his lawyer.
A government spokesman denied previous year that Hu was being implicated in the investigation and sources have told Reuters that Hu approved of it. It is also unclear when a trial could be held.
Ling was “clearly” affiliated with the Communist Party’s Youth League, an alternative power-base which has been under attack by Xi and allies in recent months, Steve Tsang, the head of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham, said.
Ling’s other brother Ling Wancheng is now in the United States, having left the country following investigations into Ling Jihua and Ling Zhengce. Media have reported other family members have been detained.
Ling’s brother, Ling Wancheng has fled to the United States, a Chinese anti-graft official confirmed in January, adding Beijing was “in touch” with Washington about his case.
In February, Ling Wancheng denied through his US attorney that he handed over state secrets, including launch codes for nuclear weapons, to USA authorities.
He was one of the several top CPC politicians who were prosecuted for corruption and abuse of power in Xis high profile anti-corruption campaign in which thousands of officials from different ranks were prosecuted in the last three years. Zhou was also tried in Tianjin.
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The Communist Party controls courts in China.
