China accuses ex-security official of poor integrity, greed

China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled a former vice minister of public security amid a raft of accusations from corruption to abandoning his post amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sun Lijun was fired from his position after an investigation was opened last year and he will now face prosecution and what is likely to be a lengthy prison sentence.

He is the latest high-ranking official to fall in president and party leader Xi Jinping s sweeping decadelong crackdown on graft that has ensnared numerous serving and retired officials in what some see as politically motivated prosecutions.

An announcement from the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Sun displayed “extremely inflated political ambition and very poor political integrity,” issued groundless criticisms of the Party’s policies, and spread political rumors.

The leading police official also engaged in “superstitious activities,” sold official posts, displayed “extreme greed,” accepted large amounts of money and property and led a “decadent lifestyle,” the announcement said.

“The circumstances were particularly serious, the nature was particularly pernicious, the impact was extremely bad and the case must be handled with extreme seriousness," it said.