The National People’s Congress (NPC, Legislative) of China announced the expulsion of four members for suspicions of violation of law and disciplineamong them the scientist Yang Xiaomingcreator of the first Covid vaccine approved in the Asian country.
The ANP Standing Committee adopted the decision last Friday, which together with Yang affects Han Shuwangformer chairman of China’s aerospace investment conglomerate; Xu Nuojinformer president of Zhingyuan Bank, and Gu Zhengjuformer leader of the Communist Party (CCP) in Nanchong, Sichuan province (center), local media reported this Monday.
Yang, who is also under investigation by the anti-corruption body of the CCP, led the research that culminated in the approval of the Sinopharm -one of the most used in China and exported to more than 100 countries-.
The fall from grace of the well-known researcher highlights the intense anti-corruption campaign by the Chinese authoritieswhich in recent times has extended to the health sector, which includes hospitals, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, with numerous arrests of directors of health centers in recent months, the newspaper recalls today South China Morning Post.
The former deputy director of Sinopharm, Zhou Bin is also under investigation since last January.
After coming to power in 2012, the current general secretary of the CCP and president of the country, Xi Jinping, began an anti-corruption campaign in which numerous senior Chinese officials have been convicted of accepting million-dollar bribes.
The Chinese Communist Party punished 610,000 officials in 2023, a record number that underpins the campaign started by Xi, who consolidated his power at the head of the country during the XX Congress that held the formation in 2022.
Last January, Xi asked to “redouble” the fight against corruption which began a decade ago and which, according to the president, has achieved “an overwhelming victory”, although he predicted more punishments because “The situation is still serious.”
In addition to sectors such as health, Xi’s current campaign targets areas as different as finance, sports, aerospace and tobacco, amid suspicions by some experts that the accusations are part of a ploy to take down your critics and rivals.
