CHINA EXECUTES FORMER TOP BANKER IN CORRUPTION, BIGAMY CASES
BEIJING: China on Friday executed a former top banker accused of taking $260 million worth of bribes, other forms of corruption and bigamy, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of Huarong - one of China’s largest state-controlled asset management firms - was put to death by a court in the northern city of Tianjin, CCTV said.
“The amount of bribes received by Lai Xiaomin was extremely large, the crime’s circumstances were particularly serious and the social impact was particularly severe,” CCTV quoted the Chinese Supreme People’s Court as saying, which reviewed and approved the execution order.
The report did not specify how Lai was executed, but said he was allowed to meet with close relatives before his death.
China derecognises UK overseas passport
China said on Friday it will no longer recognise the British National Overseas passport as a valid travel document or form of identification amid a bitter feud with London over a plan to allow millions of Hong Kong residents a route to residency and eventual citizenship.
The announcement by foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday throws up new uncertainty around the plan just hours after the UK said it would begin taking applications for what are called BNO visas beginning late on Sunday.
Under the plan, as many as 5.4 million Hong Kong residents could be eligible to live and work in the UK for five years then apply for citizenship. Demand soared after China imposed a sweeping new national security law in the city following months of pro-democracy protests.