Xinjiang local Party chief expelled for multiple offenses

A local Party chief in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was expelled from the Party and removed from his position for multiple offenses, including behavior against the State strategy of governing the region.

Wang Yongzhi, secretary of Xinjiang’s Shache county committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was found to severely violate political disciplines and Central Party Committee’s strategies involving the governance of Xinjiang, according to a notice released by China’s top disciplinary watchdog on Sunday.

The watchdog determined that Wang traded power for personal benefits, accepted bribes, built halls and houses against rules, threw banquets with public funds, formed cliques and engaged in a flippant style of work, the notice said.

“It is important for local officials, especially those in regions with a dense population of ethnic minority groups, to respect and implement the Central Party Committee’s ethnic policies aside from abiding by general laws,” Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity-Building at Peking University, told the Global Times on Monday.

A terrorist attack took place in Shache county in July 2014 where 37 civilians were killed and another 13 injured, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wang was appointed as Shache’s Party chief in November 2014 after the attack.

“Anti-graft work will focus more on political construction where local officials should fully carry out Party’s policy and safeguard the authority of the Central Party Committee,” Zhuang said.

Investigation and punishment will be strengthened toward behavior that goes against political discipline, such as running counter to ethnic policy, making groundless comments on the Central Party Committee, Zhuang added.

Wang’s illegally obtained wealth has been confiscated and his case has been sent by the local supervision committee to the local procuratorate.