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Chen Xitong

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Preceded by
  
Li Ximing

Name
  
Chen Xitong

Preceded by
  
Jiao Ruoyu

Education
  
Peking University


Nationality
  
Chinese

Party
  
Communist Party of China

Alma mater
  
Peking University

Succeeded by
  
Li Qiyan

Chen Xitong wwwasianresearchorgnewsimages2004313china

Born
  
June 10, 1930 Anyue, Sichuan (
1930-06-10
)

Political party
  
Communist Party of China

Died
  
June 2, 2013, Beijing, China

Children
  
Chen Xiaoxi, Chen Xiaotong

Books
  
Report on Checking the Turmoil and Quelling the Counter-revolutionary Rebellion: June 30, 1989

Chen xitong book 2


Chen Xitong (Chinese: 陈希同; pinyin: Chén Xītóng; June 10, 1930 – June 2, 2013) was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and the Mayor of Beijing until he was removed from office on charges of corruption in 1995.

Contents

Chen Xitong Chen Xitong dies at 82 former mayor of Beijing LA Times

Early life

Chen Xitong Obituary Photos Honoring Chen Xitong Tributescom

Chen was born on June 10, 1930, in Anyue, Sichuan Province. He attended Peking University at the age of 18 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.

Political career

Chen Xitong was the mayor of Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Years later, he said that he was "sorry" for the event of June 4, 1989, saying that no one should have died in the crackdown.

A onetime political rival to Jiang Zemin, Chen, being the leader of "Beijing clique", challenged Jiang's newly obtained authority during his presidency. This led to Chen's downfall in 1995 during an anti-corruption campaign led by Jiang's Shanghai clique. Some observers view Chen's downfall as a political struggle between Chen and Jiang. According to the book Conversations with Chen Xitong by Yao Jianfu, based on interviews with Chen, he denied the corruption charges brought against him, calling them "the worst miscarriage of justice involving a high-level leader since the Cultural Revolution, or since 1989... an absurd miscarriage of justice."

Chen's Vice Mayor, Wang Baosen, suicide in 1994 led to a confrontational power struggle between "Beijing clique" and "Shanghai clique". It was later stated that the amount of money Chen embezzled was directed to build vacational recreation centers which catered to most top-tier politicians in Beijing at the time. He was also accused of having extramarital affair with lover, He Ping. In 1998, Chen Xitong was given a 16-year jail sentence on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. His son, Chen Xiaotong, was also sentenced. Chen was released early from Qincheng Prison in 2006, officially due to reasons of ill health.

The novel The Wrath of Heaven — the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Action (天怒—反貪局在行動; pinyin: Tiān nù—Fǎntānjú zài Xíngdòng) published in 1996 is a fictionalized account of the Chen Xitong case written from the point of a view of an investigator and was quickly banned in China.

Chen died of cancer on June 2, 2013, just two days short of the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Crackdown. He was 82.

References

Chen Xitong Wikipedia