Post by : Rameen Ariff

Jilin, China: Tang Renjian, former Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totaling over 268 million yuan ($37.6 million), according to state media reports on Sunday.

Tang, who held various government positions between 2007 and 2024, reportedly received bribes in the form of cash and property. The Changchun Intermediate People’s Court noted that Tang confessed to his crimes, which contributed to the suspension of his death sentence.

The former minister was expelled from China’s Communist Party in November 2024, six months after the anti-graft authorities began investigating him and removed him from office. His investigation was notably swift, following similar probes into high-ranking officials such as Defence Minister Li Shangfu and former minister Wei Fenghe.

Tang had previously served as governor of the western province of Gansu from 2017 to 2020 before his appointment as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

President Xi Jinping, who launched a campaign in 2020 to purge China’s domestic security apparatus, has repeatedly emphasized that corruption remains the biggest threat to the Communist Party, calling for all officials, including police, prosecutors, and judges, to remain “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable.”

Tang’s case underscores the ongoing efforts by Chinese authorities to tackle corruption at the highest levels of government, sending a clear message to public officials across the country.

#world news #Global News