China official in charge of Wuhan’s coronavirus lockdown missing for six weeks as he faces corruption probe
THE boss in charge of Wuhan’s security during the coronavirus lockdown who has been missing for six weeks is now facing a corruption probe.
Sun Lijun, 51, the vice minister of public security is now being investigated for suspected “severe violations of discipline and law,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
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The probe is being conducted by the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s leading investigatory agency, which has already conducted a nationwide crackdown on corruption under President Xi Jinping.
Reports say Mr Sun was sent from Beijing to Wuhan in February to take charge of security during the coronavirus lockdown.
Mr Sun is just one of several CCP members to face retribution over the coronavirus outbreak.
Both the Hubei Province party secretary Jiang Chaoliang and the party leader in Wuhan, Ma Guoqiang have been fired by Mr Xi
Both officials were replaced in favour of party members thought to be more loyal to Mr Xi.
The investigation into Mr Sun could be seen as a sign of weakness and political infighting among China’s party leaders, according to .
The party announced earlier this month that a Ren Zhiqiang, a real estate tycoon and party member who criticized Mr Xi, had been placed under investigation.
Mr Ren is thought to be close to Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, China’s financial power broker who is said to be at odds with Mr Xi.
Mr Sun was one of four Chinese intelligence officials who came to Washington and New York in 2017 and are said to have abused their visas after pressuring a Chinese dissident.
The FBI was said to have wanted to arrest the Chinese officials but was blocked by
State Department officials under then-Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton, who feared the arrests would disrupt favourable US-China relations.
China is also trying to crackdown on the whistleblowers who revealed the truth about the coronavirus.
The claimed more than 5,100 people have been arrested for sharing information over the virus in the first weeks of the outbreak.
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And it reported any dissidents are being taken into medical quarantine and labelled as sick to stop them from speaking out further.
Other citizens are reportedly even being detained for posting questions online hinting at mask shortages or further deaths.
China’s huge online censorship system, which is known as the Great Firewall, is used to block any information the government deems to be “rumour” — or not a government source.
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