DATE=7/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-ARMY CORRUPTION (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264568
BYLINE=LETA HONG FINCHER
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: China's former military intelligence chief 
will be indicted for corruption in China's 
biggest smuggling case in decades.  VOA's Leta 
Hong Fincher reports from Beijing that the former 
major-general of the People's Liberation Army has 
also been linked to a fundraising scandal in the 
United States. 

TEXT: China's state media reports that Major 
General Ji Shengde will soon be indicted for 
taking bribes and embezzling funds involving more 
than 12 million dollars.  The state-run newspaper 
Economic Reference says General Ji accepted 
millions of dollars in bribes from a Chinese 
smuggler, Lai Changxin.  Mr. Lai headed a company 
in the southern port of Xiamen, which is believed 
to have smuggled around 10 billion dollars worth 
of goods into China.  The Xiamen smuggling case 
has also tainted several other senior Chinese 
military officials.  

General Ji was forced out of his position as head 
of intelligence for the People's Liberation Army 
in June 1999 during the corruption investigation.

During the same period, the general was also 
linked to the U-S Democratic Party fundraising 
scandal. Last year, key witness Chinese-American 
Johnny Chung testified before the U-S Congress 
that he had received 300,000 dollars from General 
Ji.  Part of that money was contributed to 
President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign. 

General Ji's case is unusual because it is the 
first time China's tightly-controlled official 
media have named an allegedly corrupt officer in 
the People's Liberation Army.  

General Ji's case was reportedly sent all the way 
up to Chinese President Jiang Zemin for a 
decision on the indictment. President Jiang, who 
is also the chairman of the Central Military 
Commission, has been tackling entrenched army 
corruption.  In 1998 he orders the P-L-A to 
divest itself of billion of dollars in business 
interests. (signed) 

NEB/HK/LHF/JO 





19-Jul-2000 06:42 AM EDT (19-Jul-2000 1042 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.