Fu, 67, was given a suspended death sentence, which will be converted to life in prison after two years, without the possibility of parole, state media reported on Thursday. Fu was deputy head of the public security ministry before becoming justice minister in 2018 and had led several high-profile investigations and crackdowns, including an investigation about a decade ago into Zhou Yongkang, a former security czar and the most powerful official in modern China to be convicted of bribery. In July, Fu admitted to accepting bribes totaling more than 117 million yuan ($16.50 million). Ahead of Fu’s trial in the northeastern city of Changchun, China’s anti-graft watchdog found earlier this year that Fu was also part of a “political gang” of Sun Lijun – one of the most prominent officials in its security apparatus targeted by Zhou’s conviction in 2015. Sun, who was deputy public security minister when the investigations against him began in 2020, admitted on state television in January that he colluded with some top law enforcement officials for personal enrichment. Sun was also accused of not embracing President Xi Jinping’s authority. The influence of Sun, who has not yet received his sentence, was so pervasive within the party that it was described by authorities as “poisonous” and Sun himself was like a “cancer” that needed to be eradicated. On Wednesday, three former police chiefs of Shanghai, Chongqing and Shanxi Province were sentenced to years in prison – including one for life – for corruption. Like Fu, they had also been accused of being part of Sun’s clique and disloyal to Xi. The purges came three weeks before the ruling Communist Party’s five-year congress, where Xi is widely expected to secure a third term as China’s leader.
