Ex-police deputy chief investigated

Another official from Datong, one of the country's largest coal mining centers, has been placed under investigation, pushing the city into the middle of Shanxi's anti-graft storm.

According to The Paper, a political news platform based in Shanghai, quoting an anonymous source, Xue Kai, the deputy head of Datong's public security bureau and former head of its traffic police branch, was taken away by Datong commission for disciplinary inspection a few days ago.

Xue had participated in many big projects in Datong, including the city's largest urban road reconstruction around 2008 and a crackdown on hit-and-run cases around 2012.

Despite a lack of specific proof, one anonymous source told The Paper that Xue stopped being the head of Datong's traffic police branch in 2013 due to his mismanagement of the Yungang tourism road.

The road, specifically designed for tourism, was being illegally used by cargo trucks and there was a complete absence of police patrols.

Before Xue was taken away for investigation, many officials had undergone a similar fate. Xue's predecessor Guo Liang was removed from his position in 2006 for corruption and bribery. Feng Lixiang, former secretary of the Communist Party of China committee of Datong, is being investigated for bribery.

Wang Rulin, the Party chief of Shanxi province, said on Nov 19 the three cities of Shanxi, including Datong, have the most serious corruption problem within the province.

The shake-up in Shanxi's leadership began in February when scores of senior officials were placed under investigation for "serious violations of discipline and law", a euphemism for corruption.

Seven provincial-level officials have been investigated on graft charges since the nationwide anti-graft campaign began in late 2012. They include five members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee.

At least nine disciplinary officials have been investigated this year, including four incumbent leaders of the province.

Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, made an unusual trip to Shanxi on Dec 8 to give a lecture to senior officials in the province and call on all Party organizations to perform their supervisory duties to create a favorable political environment in the corruption-plagued province.

Xue Lan, a professor of public policy and management at Tshinghua University, said Shanxi's coal resources have bred serious corruption, and the collusion between government officials and businesses developed into a profit-sharing mechanism.

Ren Jianming, a professor of clean-governance research at Beihang University, said the anti-graft drive will continue not only in Shanxi province but also across the nation.

"Corruption is a universal problem. Shanxi is not a special case. Many other provinces share the same problem," Ren said.