China to probe top aide to former President Hu Jintao

BEIJING — The top aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao has been placed under investigation for disciplinary violations, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday, as President Xi Jinping opens another front in his sweeping battle against deep-rooted graft.

In a terse and brief statement on its website, the party’s anti-corruption watchdog said Mr Ling Jihua was being investigated for “suspected serious discipline violations”, the usual euphemism for graft. It gave no other details.

Mr Ling fell out of favour after being demoted in September 2012 after sources said his son had been involved in a deadly crash while driving a luxury sports car.

The car, which some of the sources said was a Ferrari, crashed in Beijing in March that year in an embarrassment for the ruling Communist Party, which is sensitive to perceptions that children of top party officials live rich, privileged lifestyles completely out of touch with the masses, the sources said.

But Mr Ling returned to the public eye this year when his two brothers came under investigation, triggering speculation that he, too, would be implicated under Mr Xi’s widening anti-corruption campaign. The campaign is seen by many as a means to not only restore public confidence in the ruling Communist Party, but also root out threats to the President’s political dominance.

Speculation about Mr Ling’s fate had been running high after the announcement in June of a probe into his older brother, Mr Ling Zhengce, for suspected “serious discipline and law violations”.

Already, Mr Xi has removed Bo Xilai, a former Politburo member, and Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Politburo’s powerful Standing Committee.

Mr Ling was dropped from his post as head of the party’s General Office of the Central Committee, a powerful post similar to Cabinet Secretary in Westminster-style governments.

He was then appointed as minister for the less influential United Front Work Department, which is in charge of co-opting non-communists, religious groups and ethnic minorities.

Two sources with ties to the leadership said Mr Ling might escape prosecution. “He is under investigation, but it does not necessarily mean that he will be prosecuted,” one source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This is Xi Jinping being fair,” the source added, meaning that the President was keen to show that his campaign would target anyone and that nobody was safe, no matter what their party affiliations were.

“Xi is not targeting a specific faction,” said the second source. “Hu Jintao’s men are also being investigated.” Agencies