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NEWS |
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| ELECTORNIC EDITION |
| 2006-12-25 |
| ·WEST ·EAST |
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GLOBAL CHINESE PRESS |
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The death of Shanghai's special status
GEOFFREY YORK 2006-12-25 15:09 The Globe and Mail | SHANGHAI -- With its gloomy Gothic spires and turrets, the Moller Villa is a dark castle brooding on the skyline above the colonial buildings of Shanghai's French concession. At the villa's black iron gate, a sign says it is closed for "interior refitting." But there is no evidence of renovations. Mysterious black cars with government plates park outside the walls. Policemen and security guards loiter nearby, while a surveillance camera guards the entrance.
Behind the villa's high brick walls, a secret team of Communist Party investigators is dealing a death blow to Shanghai's independence. The corruption investigators -- more than 100 of them, according to Chinese reports -- have helped the central government seize control of a city that enjoyed special political privileges for more than a decade.
The villa, built by a Swedish tycoon in the 1930s and later converted to a hotel, has been commandeered by an army of investigators from Beijing who are probing a widening corruption scandal among Shanghai's political leaders. After four months, no end to the probe is in sight. Hotel staff say the villa will be closed for another six months at least.
The scandal began last summer when a senior Shanghai official was arrested on suspicion of misappropriating $400-million in local pension funds and diverting them into high-risk investments in real estate and highway projects.
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Then, in September, the city's top leader -- Communist Party secretary Chen Liangyu -- was sacked from office and put under investigation for alleged involvement in the same scandal. Dozens of people, including other senior officials, were reportedly implicated in the affair, and dismissals continued this month.
Mr. Chen is the highest ranking Communist official to be formally accused of wrongdoing in more than a decade. His demise, and the presence of the anti-corruption investigators, is evidence that Shanghai's special status is dead.
Under the rule of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, the city had enjoyed remarkable power and autonomy, including tax breaks and other preferences. Mr. Jiang had ascended to power through the ranks in Shanghai, and he had installed a "Shanghai gang" of cronies and protegés to safeguard his power.
But the new president, Hu Jintao, has slowly dismantled the clique and removed its members from key positions of power.
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