The former head of China’s state-owned banking giant Everbright Group, Tang Shuangning, has been arrested on charges of corruption, according to prosecutors.
The arrest follows an investigation by China’s anticorruption authority, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and is part of President Xi Jinping’s broader campaign against corruption in the country.
Tang, 69, was expelled from the Communist Party earlier this month for alleged violations of party discipline, including bringing unauthorized books into the country and accepting illicit gifts.
Tang’s arrest is part of a larger trend of high-profile figures within China’s financial sector facing legal actions as part of President Xi’s anticorruption drive. In the previous month, Sun Guofeng, the former head of the central bank’s monetary policy department, received a 16-year and six-month prison sentence for charges including bribery, leaking state secrets, and insider trading. In October, Liu Liange, the former chairman of the Bank of China, was arrested on suspicion of bribery and providing illegal loans. Li Xiaopeng, Tang’s successor at Everbright, was also arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes in the same month.
President Xi Jinping, often considered China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has made a zero-tolerance stance against corruption a prominent feature of his leadership. While supporters credit Xi with cleaning up politics and business in the country, critics argue that the anticorruption campaign serves as a means to eliminate political rivals.
Nauru Severs Ties With Taiwan, Chooses Diplomatic Relations With China
Meanwhile, on Monday, the small Pacific nation of Nauru declared the termination of its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, opting to recognize China instead. The decision followed Taiwan’s recent election of the independence-leaning Lai Ching-te as its next president.
In an official statement, the Nauru government stated that it would no longer regard Taiwan as a separate country but as an integral part of China’s territory. China claims sovereignty over democratic Taiwan and has expressed its intention to reunify with it, even by force if necessary.
