RTTue, 01 Oct 2019 16:27 UTC
One Chinese official has some serious explaining to do after investigators came across mounds of gold in his house in Haikou City, Hainan province.
Zhang Qi,
a member of provincial and municipal party committees, was
reportedly undergoing a disciplinary review and being investigated for possible illegality when the enormous stash was uncovered.
Authorities found some 13.5 tons of gold,
as well as millions of yuan in cash and antiques, plus evidence of a huge portfolio of luxury real estate. According to
local reports, the disciplinary commission announced in early September that they were looking into the ex-governor's affairs.
Officials convicted of 'economic crimes' or corruption can face the death penalty in China.
Comment: That's around $650 million in gold, give or take. Graft is one of the perks of political power, no matter what the political system may be. But as RT notes, China has the death penalty for economic crimes of this sort. Politics may have the potential for obscenely high - and highly unethical - payoffs, but the stakes are equally high. And they have been throughout history, the power elites' acquisitiveness bounded only by the hands of their equally powerful peers (and competitors). For more on this history, see:
Comment: That's around $650 million in gold, give or take. Graft is one of the perks of political power, no matter what the political system may be. But as RT notes, China has the death penalty for economic crimes of this sort. Politics may have the potential for obscenely high - and highly unethical - payoffs, but the stakes are equally high. And they have been throughout history, the power elites' acquisitiveness bounded only by the hands of their equally powerful peers (and competitors). For more on this history, see: