Another Party boss, Lu Wei, expelled. Prisons for corrupt VIPs overflowing

Lu Wei was head of internet security and deputy director of the Party's propaganda department. He is accused of having " did whatever it took to build personal fame", and also of having created cliques in the Party. Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has Qincheng prison filled to the brim with many of his personal enemies.


Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has announced that Lu Wei, head of Cybersecurity, has been expelled from the Party. Lu Wei, who was also deputy director of the Party's propaganda department, had been put under investigation last November.

The Central Commission statement, issued yesterday, states that Lu " Lu Wei has seriously violated political disciplines and rules … deceiving the central authorities, he did whatever he wanted, commenting on central government policies with bias and distortion, obstructing central government investigations, with his growing ambition he used public tools for personal interests and did whatever it took for personal fame". He is also accused of anonymously filing false accusations against other people and having created cliques.

Lu Wei, 57, became famous because in 2014, on his tour in the United States, he met politicians and big high-tech entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Tim Cook of Apple.

Lu is one of the many "tigers" to fall victim to the anti-corruption campaign launched by Xi Jinping against Party "tigers and flies" that have become corrupt or have a luxurious and exaggerated lifestyle. So far, more than 250 senior Party members have been dismissed and around 1.4 million cadres and bureaucrats have been punished.

While the campaign continues nationwide with determination, it is beginning to run into some difficulties. According to the South China Morning Post, in fact, the prison where the Party VIPs are interned, now seems to be brim full and lacking space.

The prison in question is of the highest security in Qincheng, on the hills north of Beijing. Zhou Yongkang, former head of Cybersecurity, is imprisoned in it; the former head of Chongqing Bo Xilai; the former secretary of Hu Jintao, Ling Jihua; former general Guo Boxiong; Chen Liangyu, former head of the Shanghai party and many others.

The great political and dissident analyst Bao Tong has challenged the true nature of this campaign, orchestrated to conceal an internal party showdown. In fact, only those belonging to antagonistic "cliques" to that of Xi Jinping are affected.