Kong Chuizhu the vice-chairman of People’s Congress Standing Committee in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, has been hospitalized after attempting suicide.
Sources from the Yunnan provincial government told Caixin the 61-year-old Kong, left, cut his wrist, arms and neck with a broken wine glass in late March. He was bleeding heavily while being sent to hospital. He also lapsed into a coma because of a drug overdose.
Kong has been linked to Shen Peiping, the former Yunnan provincial vice governor who was placed under investigation for graft in early March. Kong worked under Shen for several years in the 1990s. Caixin said Shen disclosed Kong’s alleged corrupt practices during a confession.
And Kong reportedly had a positive HIV test during a medical check-up.
Kong was previously in charge of the construction of water projects.
Several senior officials have committed suicide as China’s anti-corruption campaign intensifies. In early April, Xu Ye’an, deputy director in the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, killed himself in his Beijing office. Li Wufeng, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, killed himself by jumping from a building in late March.
China’s state-controlled newspaper Global Times said that being an official in China is a highly risky job, or a life-and-death matter, as authorities strengthen their anti-corruption efforts. The newspaper also called for authorities to publish information about officials’ deaths.
Sources: Caixin (财新网), Legal Evening News (法制晚报), The Guardian
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Hui Zhi is the Senior Manager for Content with the China Compliance Digest, where a version of this post first appeared.
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