Aircraft carrier execs probed for alleged graft

State-owned firms under scrutiny during key naval upgrades

Two senior officials at China’s State-owned aircraft carriermanufacturing firm have come under investigation by the country’s top anti-graft agency within the past three years, with Chinese observers hailing that such moves effectively help clear up hidden dangers during a period of key naval upgrades and safeguard national interests.

According to a statement released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on late Sunday, Sun Bo, the general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), and the deputy chief with the conglomerate’s leading Party group, was investigated for “suspected serious violation of Party disciplinary rules and law.”

Apart from Sun, Liu Changhong, also a member of the leading Party group with the CSIC and head of the company’s discipline inspection group was reportedly being investigated for “serious discipline breaches,” according to a statement published on the CCDI website in November 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported.

These CSIC cases showcase that the Party’s anti-corruption campaign leaves no blind spots and is paying extremely close attention to national key industries at the beginning of the New Era, Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The CSIC is China’s largest manufacturer of naval products and designs and builds many different types of naval ships including submarines, guided missile destroyers and fleet replenishment vessels, according to the CSIC official website.

CSIC has designed and built, among many prominent naval vessels, the country’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier, known as the Type 001A, and the company also disclosed in February its plan to build China’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as part of the weaponry upgrades for the Chinese Navy by 2025.

Although key national programs such as aircraft carrier design and manufacture is strictly supervised by various national agencies, and cannot be easily affected by a few individuals, it is crucial to deter the possibility of treachery among state firms’ leaders that threatens national security, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Since corrupt officials are vulnerable to temptation by foreign enemies, if they remain in key posts in the national defense technology and industry sector, national interests and state secrets are at stake, Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army, told the Global Times.

Funds for the country’s largest undertakings including aircraft carrier development can easily be misappropriated with such corrupt officials, which in return compromises the quality of the ships, Li noted.