2016-07-04
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Ling Jihua attends the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, Nov. 14, 2012.
AFP
A court in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday jailed for life a former top official linked to a now infamous Ferrari car-crash in Beijing, after finding him guilty of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.
Ling Jihua, who once led the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s ideological arm, was found guilty by the Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court of taking bribes worth 77.08 million yuan (U.S.$11.6 million), state-run media reported.
Ling was thrown into the spotlight in March 2012, when his son died crashing his Ferrari in Beijing, amid rumors of a coup plot involving then Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai and domestic security czar Zhou Yongkang, both of whom are now also serving life sentences for corruption and abuse of power.
Many asked how his son could possibly have afforded such a car, after the crash that involved two women in varying states of undress. Ling was rumored in some quarters to have helped then president Hu Jintao, who stepped down in November 2012, to put down the coup, reports of which have never been confirmed.
Ling, also a former head of China’s national political advisory body, pleaded guilty to all charges laid against him, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
“I accept all the charges and submit to the judgement,” the agency quoted him as telling the court. “Today’s trial will be engraved in my memory.”
State secrets
Ling, whose personal assets were also confiscated, said the trial was “solemn, meticulous, rational and civilized,” and thanked officials and his attorneys. He will not appeal, Xinhua said.
The life sentence was based on the amount of money Ling obtained from bribery, as well as the “seriousness” of his abuse of power and possession of state secrets, it said. However, he had received a “lesser punishment” owing to his guilty plea and remorseful attitude.
Chinese courts are controlled by the party, which expelled Ling from its ranks last year, in what some commentators said was a politically motivated campaign by President Xi Jinping targeting his predecessor’s traditional support base. Ling’s sentencing left questions around his brother Ling Wancheng’s exile to the United States unanswered, however, amid fears that he may have taken Chinese nuclear secrets with him.
Analysts said Ling’s sentence was fairly lenient, given the circumstances, indicating that he may have cut a deal with the authorities.
Political commentator Hua Po said the authorities could be sending a message to Ling Wancheng.
“Sentencing Ling Jihua to life imprisonment really represents a sort of threat hanging over Ling Wancheng, that he had better keep his mouth shut, and that there had better not be any leaks of documents,” Hua said.
“As long as nothing happens to harm the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, then Ling Jihua’s life will be a bit more bearable and his family will be fairly well-treated,” he said.
According to Hong Kong-based veteran journalist Ching Cheong, Xi is also anxious to play down reports of growing factional strife within party ranks.
“The party wants to play this down because they don’t want people to think that the power struggle is that fierce, or that there was a coup being plotted,” Ching told RFA.
“They want to avoid that, so they try him for corruption, abuse of power and obtaining state secrets, and not for factional strife,” he said.
Factional strife?
Hubei-based rights activist Liu Feiyue said that factional strife is exactly what is happening behind the scenes, however.
“In a dictatorial system with no democracy, even people with vested interests can become a victim of this pernicious system,” Liu said.
“This is a warning to people in high-ranking positions who may be feeling complacent, that what happened to Ling Jihua today could happen to you tomorrow,” he said.
And Beijing-based democracy activist Zha Jianguo said the sentence confirmed the extent of the president’s power.
“Xi Jinping has already consolidated his power, and has control of everything now,” Zha said. “There will be no coup.”
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