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Businesswoman on trial for bribery, illegal operation
A businesswoman implicated along with former railways minister Liu Zhijun stood trial on Tuesday in a Beijing court on bribery and illegal business operation charges.

Businesswoman involved in former railway minister's case on trial in Beijing
Ding Yuxin, once called Ding Shumiao, a bussinesswoman who was involved in the corruption case of former railway minister Liu Zhijun, is on trial at the No. 2 Beijing Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Beijing, capital of China, September 24, 2013.

Liu gets 'suspended death'
Former minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, was given a death penalty with "a two-year reprieve" for bribe-taking and abuse of power Monday. 

Liu Zhijun given suspended death penalty for bribery, power abuse
China's former railways minister Liu Zhijun was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve here on Monday for bribery and abuse of power.

Photo: Liu Zhijun sentenced to suspended death for bribery, abuse of power

Liu’s Henchman

Ding Yuxin (aka Ding Shumiao), the 58-year-old Shanxi businesswoman and associate of former railway minister Liu Zhijun, stood trial at the No. 2 Beijing Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Beijing on collusion and bribery charges September 24.

Trial
Ding is accused of bribery and leveraging her connections at the railway ministry to help her company secure bids for railway projects totaling more than 180 billion yuan ($29.4 billion), according to a previous statement from the procuratorate.

Ding Yuxin
Ding was an executive of the Beijing Boyou Investment Management Corp in Shanxi Province; a company whose assets soared from 474 million yuan ($74 million) in 2008 to 4.5 billion yuan in 2010, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to caixin.com, Liu helped Ding's company win a project worth 3 billion yuan while fully aware that one of Ding's companies charged railway engineering firms 10 million yuan in “sponsorship fees” at the 2010 World Congress on High Speed Rail.

The Ministry of Railways made an internal announcement saying that Liu had asked Ding to lobby officials to help him procure a local government post.

Source: people.com.cn

Voices

Yan Yu, executive director of Peking University's Government Management and Industry Development Research Institute.
Collusion between a top official and a tycoon was a growing trend among corrupt officials. It allowed them "to stack their illegal proceeds in the pocket of somebody else, but it was always at their own disposal whenever they needed."
Yan said the murky deals of so many railway projects tied to Ding and Liu highlighted the urgent need for more transparency in the tendering of government-financed projects and how ineffective internal oversight was.
"The key question is that Liu Zhijun was largely free to decide whatever he wanted [regarding these] projects," he said. "An internal oversight department couldn't possibly tell him off as it was under his control."

Source: South China Morning Post

@禅宗七祖: After the crimes were committed and the glory faded away, Ding may feel it was all a dream. But what the public is really worried about is how many officials and their henchmen she left behind?

The Indictment

Liu Zhijun, the former minister of railways, was charged with bribe-taking and abuse of power on April 10, more than two years after the controversial figure was removed from his post.

The indictment issued by the Second Branch of Beijing People's Procuratorate:

 Sought benefits for others by taking advantage of his position;

 Accepted financial incentives from others;

 Engaged in malpractices for personal gains and abuse of power;

 Leaded to huge losses of public properties and of the interests of the state and its people.

Comments

 On the trial

 Global Times
There is no denying that China is taking anti-corruption seriously. But we have to ask: Can the anti-corruption push bring a massive decrease in the crimes of bribery and the abuse of power?

Online anti-corruption brings extra deterrence to corrupt officials, but those exposed on the Internet are low-probability cases. Only when all people surrounding officials become active fighters against corruption can the situation be fundamentally changed.

 Xinhua 
The sentencing shows on one hand the judicial system and top leaders' resolve totarget both high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies" in its anti-corruption efforts, andon the other hand the judicial spirit of everyone is equal before the law.

The open and fair justice as well as equal stress on substantive justice and proceduraljustice have led to the sound quality of handling cases, thus safeguarding the spirit ofthe rule of law and highlighting the development of judicial civilization.

 People's Daily
Despite pleads from his council, the court did not take Liu’s contributions to the development of China’s high-speed rail into consideration. This shows that no one who breaks the law, regardless of their position, is exempt from punishment. People are all equal before the law without exception. 

 Dahe.cn
There is nothing inappropriate about the stay of execution; though the bribes were extremely large, most of them were recovered; many losses incurred through abuse of power have been rectified by the court. At the same time, how much in bribes justify execution? Are there officials who know this magic number and take just enough to avoid the death penalty? 

 Takungpao.com
People continue to discuss whether Liu’s death sentence should be suspended when should be rethinking the system and closing existing loopholes. If we do not root out corruption and eradicate the perks of officialdom at once, even the fall of titans like Liu Zhijun will not stop others from rising up in his place.

 Rednet.cn
Netizens joke that a stay of execution for a high-ranking official is just forcing an early retirement. But their greatest concern is whether sentenced officials can get off on technicalities. Every court decision should be conducted with transparency and without tolerance for outside influences.  Corrupt officials also deserve no leniency or comfort behind bars: no books or newspapers, no tea, no sports. The law should apply to criminals uniformly, regardless of social status. 

 On the charge

 Global Times
"I heard from sources that he worked day and night, and was exceptionally hard working. Of course, that was due to his political ambition," said Zhao.

Zhao also noted it was the ministry's centralized control of railway resources and its mixed role in administrative and commercial activities that provided the conditions for Liu's corruption.
--Zhao Jian, a professor with the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University

 The Beijing News
The trial of Liu Zhijun is an opportunity to exercise the rule of law, and also necessary in putting an end to rumors circulating among the public. Both the public and authorities should not only focus on the juicy details, such as Liu’s record-breaking bribes or how many mistresses he had, but rather reflect on the root of Liu’s corruption and how the power of a high-ranking official can go unchecked and get out of control.

 Legal Daily
Liu Zhijun’s case has revealed inherent problems in railway reform. First, the unrealistic development model, which much like the “Great Leap Forward”, does more harm than good. The lack of separation of government functions from enterprise management has also provided Liu unimaginable space for rent-seeking, which begs the creation of a better supervision system. Finally, any future railway reforms should take market demand and the capabilities of railway departments into full consideration.

Foreign Media

 Reuters
Liu faces either a lengthy jail sentence or possibly death. How severely he is dealt with will be an indicator of how seriously new Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi takes his fight on corruption, one of the pillars of his new administration.

Timeline

	February, 2011	Liu had been under investigation for serious disciplinary violations since February 2011, when he was dismissed from the post as the Party chief of the ministry.
	December, 2011	In July 2011, a deadly train collision led to 40 deaths. In December 2011, the State Council announced that Liu was responsible for the accident.
	May, 2012	Liu Zhijun, former railway minister, was expelled from the Communist Party of China due to serious disciplinary violations, according to a decision by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on May 28.
	November, 2012	The Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on November 4 endorsed a decision to expel former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun from the CPC. (2012)
	April 10, 2013	The Second Branch of Beijing People's Procuratorate filed the charges against Liu with the city's No.2 Intermediate People's Court. The court has accepted the case according to law, and will set a trial date.
	June 9, 2013	Liu's case was heard by the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court. The Second Branch of Beijing People's Procuratorate charged Liu for abusing his position, accepting 64.6 million yuan ($10.5 million) in bribes and helping 11 people win promotions, project deals and cargo transportation contracts.
	July 8, 2013	Liu was sentenced to death with "a two-year reprieve" for taking bribes and abuse of power. All his personal property and assets have been confiscated.

News vocab

滥用职权 lànyòng zhíquán
abuse one's power/authority

原铁道部部长刘志军受贿、滥用职权案8日在北京市第二中级人民法院一审宣判。
A first-instance verdict for former minister of railways Liu Zhijun, who was charged with bribery and abuse of power, was announced by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court on July 8.

中标   zhòngbiāo

“中” v. hit; fit exactly（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）
“标” n. bid; tender（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）
“中标” v. get/win a tender; win a bid（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

Example:

丁书苗通过获取铁道部相关人员帮助，先后使23家投标公司中标57个铁路工程项目。 （Source: 中国新闻网）
With the help of certain railway ministry employees, Ding Shumiao helped a total 23 companies win bids in 57 railway projects.

Related Reports

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