[Epoch Times, February 12, 2022]On February 12, Xu Ming, a former member of the party group and deputy director of the State Administration of Grain of the Communist Party of China, was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes and using influence to accept bribes. Previously, the official notification stated that it received huge amounts of property and so on. During Bo Xilai’s tenure as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Xu Ming was Bo Xilai’s “big secret”.
Xu Ming was investigated on July 13 last year after 3 years of retirement, and was double-opened on January 24 this year. At that time, the CCP officially reported that Xu Ming was accused of “arbitrarily discussing the central government”, illegally accepting property from private business owners, illegally entering and leaving private clubs and accepting banquets, seeking benefits for his sub-business activities, engaging in power rent-seeking, and helping others in business operations, Profit from project contracting, job promotion, etc., and illegally accept huge amounts of property.
The 64-year-old Xu Ming joined the Ministry of Commerce of the Communist Party of China in June 2003. He has held leadership positions in several departments. He was airborne in April 2008 and served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Director of the Research Office, Secretary-General of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, and Chongqing Municipal Party Committee. Member of the Standing Committee, Secretary General, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Liangjiang New Area, etc.
Xu Ming used to be the director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Commerce of the Communist Party of China, and was the “think tank” of then Minister Bo Xilai. During Bo Xilai’s tenure as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Xu Ming became his “big secret”.
Xu Ming was dismissed in March 2012, and in the same month he was demoted to the State Grain Administration as deputy director (retaining the deputy ministerial level) until his retirement.
A commentary signed by Hong Kong’s Ming Pao said that after the Bo Xilai case in 2012, a large number of officials were involved. Although Xu Ming had followed Bo Xilai since he was appointed Minister of Commerce in 2004, he had followed Bo Xilai all the way to Chongqing, but he was able to get out of the office and still retain the treatment at the vice-minister level.
The article said that the then governor of Liaoning, Bo Xilai, was transferred to Beijing to take over, and Xu Ming has been Bo’s subordinate since then. After Bo’s downfall, it is impossible for outsiders to know who protected Xu Ming, but since Xu Ming was transferred back to Beijing (although he went to Leng Yamen), and from the perspective of retaining his original level, his relationship in Beijing should be no trivial matter.
The article stated that compared with other “ex-convicts”, Xu Ming has not kept a low profile over the past 8 years. As deputy director, although he often went to other places for inspection and research, even after retirement, he was not alone. I don’t know if this high-profile style has brought disaster, or it is a response to the phrase “If you don’t die, you won’t die.”
Since the outbreak of the Chongqing incident in 2012, Chongqing’s officialdom has been deeply cleaned. Before the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Sun Zhengcai, an important member of the Jiang faction, He Ting, the former director of Chongqing Public Security, and Mu Huaping, the deputy mayor of Chongqing, were successively sacked.
Responsible editor: Xu Menger#