Yang Weize


Yang Weize is a former Chinese politician. He was the Communist Party Secretary of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that, he served as the party chief in the neighbouring city of Wuxi for seven years, and before that the Mayor of Suzhou. In 2015, Yang was put under investigation for corruption by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. He was tried and convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to twelve years and six months in prison in December 2016.

Career

Yang was born in Nantong, Jiangsu province in August 1962. He traces his ancestry to the Changzhou area. His father was a hospital administrator in the city of Nantong. Yang went to college at the Nanjing Marine Engineering Institute, where he studied marine and seaport engineering. He began working in the Jiangsu provincial transportation department in August 1981. In 1998, he became the provincial director of transportation. The next year, he was transferred to become Deputy Party Secretary of Suzhou, and later Mayor. In 2004, Yang became the party chief of Wuxi, becoming first-in-charge of the southern Jiangsu city. By 2006, at age 44, he had earned a seat on the provincial Party Standing Committee.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, during Yang's term in Suzhou, he reportedly maintained close relations with the family of Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, who was a native of the region. Yang was said to have received praise from Zhou for his work in controlling the razing of local residential neighbourhoods near Zhou's hometown. In 2011, he became the Party Secretary of the provincial capital Nanjing. Chinese language media have suggested that Yang was once subject to a formal disciplinary complaint by Gao Dezheng, former executive Vice Governor of Jiangsu and the father-in-law of Ji Jianye; Ji was Mayor of Nanjing during Yang's term as the city's party boss. As the city's two most prominent political leaders, Ji and Yang had an uneasy, often hostile relationship. Yang publicly criticized Ji over a rainwater diversion construction project in Nanjing led by the mayor. Ji was abruptly removed from his office of mayor in December 2013 to face a corruption investigation.
Yang also served as the president of the organizing committee of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, spearheading a strategy of using temporary venues for competition and spending frugally. Yang said, "No new venues will be built if old ones can be renovated, No new facilities will be purchased if old ones can be repaired, no equipment will be bought if can be rented, and they won't be rented if they can be borrowed," echoing a famous phrase used by former President Liu Shaoqi.
Yang was an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Investigation

After the dismissal of Ji Jianye, rumours about Yang himself being "in trouble" began circulating in late 2013. For much of 2014, Yang executed the party's anti-corruption and "mass line" campaigns with great fervour in Nanjing, ostensibly as a display of loyalty to the new party leadership under Xi Jinping. In addition, in preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, Yang called upon the city to embrace the slogan, "work hard for one hundred days, clean up the environment." Between April and August, various "clean-up" initiatives took place across the city. During this time, Yang was said to have visited all the sporting venues and surrounding areas to ensure that work was being completed as planned. The "one hundred day clean-up" campaign earned Yang praise from local residents. In May, Yang said that Nanjing was open to the idea of hosting the 2019 Asian Games after organizers from Vietnam withdrew from hosting the event.
In July 2014, state media announced the investigation into China's former security chief and Wuxi-area native Zhou Yongkang. In September 2014, Yang's friend and colleague Feng Yajun, then serving as the district party chief of Jianye District and a member of the Nanjing Party Standing Committee, was detained for investigation. Several days later, Lou Xuequan, former party chief of Luhe District of Nanjing, committed suicide in his home. On December 13, the "National Commemoration Ceremony" for the Nanking Massacre took place in the city, attended by President Xi Jinping. Yang did not accompany Xi's subsequent visit to the Zhenjiang and Nanjing area. After the Commemoration Ceremony, Yang maintained an extremely low-profile, showing reluctance even when signing routine documents and pushing most work onto Mayor Miao Ruilin. On January 1, 2015, Yang took part in a long-distance running race to ring in the new year at the Nanjing City Wall. Those who attended the race reported that Yang looked extremely stressed and uneasy.
On January 4, 2015, Yang was detained by officials from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party's internal anti-graft agency, on "suspected serious violations of displinary and law". His wife and deputy chief of staff was also reported to have been detained on the same day.
Yang was chairing a "democratic life meeting" when he was informed by an assistant that his presence was immediately required at the provincial party headquarters. Yang promptly adjourned the meeting and made his way there. According to a Jiangsu party disciplinary official, upon realizing he was being apprehended by party disciplinary personnel, Yang attempted to kill himself by jumping out of a window at the provincial party headquarters but was ultimately restrained from doing so.

Expulsion and Sentencing

Following an investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, on July 31, 2015, Yang was expelled from the Communist Party of China. In an official statement, the CCDI accused Yang of "gravely violating organizational discipline, hiding personal information , accepting cash gifts, seeking gain for others using the convenience of his office violating the Eight-point Regulation, frequenting high-end hotels and private clubs, accepting banquet invitations from others; using the convenience of his office to seek promotion or further business interests of others, and taking huge bribes." Of these offenses cited, most were merely violations of party discipline; however, bribery constituted a crime. Yang's case was forwarded to judicial authorities for prosecution.
On December 14, 2016, Yang Weize was sentenced for 12 years and 6 months in prison, having been convicted on charges of bribery by the Ningbo People's Intermediate Court. Two million yuan of personal assets were seized, and all of his earnings deemed to have come from corrupt sources were confiscated by the national treasury. The total value of bribes recorded by the court was 16.43 million yuan.