[full article at http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/THU/IN/beijing.2.html ] Paris, Thursday, September 14, 2000 ---------------------------------------------- Secret Trials of Chinese Officials Begin =========================== Agence France-Presse XIAMEN, China - Trials in the biggest corruption scandal in Communist China's history opened Wednesday with senior officials facing the death penalty for taking bribes and kickbacks in a multibillion-dollar smuggling scam. Court officials in the coastal cities of Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Putian and Zhangzhou in the southern province of Fujian confirmed that trials linked to the scandal had opened. But a veil of secrecy has been drawn over proceedings and officials refused to give details about defendants or charges, and they also declined to say exactly how many people would face trial. The police imposed heavy security around the Xiamen People's Intermediate Court, blocking all roads around the building and turning away anyone without an official pass. The scandal is centered around the Hong Kong-based YanHua (Farewell) Group, which allegedly operated a smuggling web out of the port of Xiamen by greasing the palms of police, customs and Communist Party officials. YanHua, run by Lai Changqing, a businessman, is alleged to have smuggled more than $10 billion worth of diesel fuel, tobacco, cigarettes, rubber and other products over a decade. Hong Kong press reports have implicated between 200 and 600 government officials, including the families of some of China's most senior leaders. President Jiang Zemin has ordered an all-out war on corruption within the Communist Party, and in the latest high-profile case Cheng Kejie, a vice chairman of Parliament, was sentenced to death in July for taking nearly $5 million in bribes. But critics say Mr. Jiang has stopped investigations reaching into the top echelon of the party and the most senior officials linked to the Xiamen scam are not expected to stand trial. The Beijing Youth Daily said this week that about 10 officials would be sentenced to death for accepting 5 million yuan ($600,000) each in bribes Previous media reports have said that at least four officials will face the death penalty for receiving bribes exceeding $12 million. They include the former Xiamen customs head, Yang Qianxian, and a former provincial deputy director of police, Zhuang Rushun. Also allegedly implicated are the deputy head of Xiamen's public security department, the head of state security in Xiamen and the city's deputy Communist Party secretary. Xiamen's new vice mayor, Chen Conghui, declined to give details of the trials, but insisted the city was shaking off its reputation as a center of corruption. ''One thing I would like to stress is that Xiamen is not relying on smuggling to get rich,'' he said. ''If you cut off a branch infected with insects the health of the whole tree improves.'' ___________________________________________________
