Su Hongzhang (; born May 1959) is a former Chinese politician, and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

Province. He was dismissed from his position in April 2016 for investigation by the

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest internal control institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the par ...

Early life and education

Su Hongzhang was born in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

. He joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

in 1985 and graduated from

Liaoning University Liaoning University () is a provincial public university founded in 1948 at Shenyang, Liaoning, China. It is among the universities listed in the nation's Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211 affirmed by the Ministry of Ed ...

with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1983.

Career

In 1995, Su served as deputy governor of

Heishan County Heishan () is a county of north-central Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration and occupies the northeastern corner of Jinzhou City. Administrative divisions There are 17 towns, six townships, and two ethnic townshi ...

and deputy head of the CPC Propaganda Department of Liaoning. In 2000 he became the Deputy Party Secretary of

Fushun Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Ri ...

and moved to the post of the deputy party chief of

in 2007. Su was promoted to head the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Liaoning in October 2011, and a member of the

provincial party standing committee Members of the standing committees of the Chinese Communist Party provincial-level committees, commonly referred to as ''Shengwei Changwei'' (), make up the top ranks of the provincial-level organizations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I ...

, a part of the province's highest echelon of power.

Investigation

On April 6, 2016, Su Hongzhang was placed under investigation by the

, the party's internal disciplinary body, for "serious violations of regulations". Su was the first provincial-level ''Zhengfawei'' chief to fall under the axe of the

anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping A far-reaching anti-corruption campaign began in China following the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012. The campaign, carried out under the aegis of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese ...

. The investigation against Su was opened shortly after the downfall of the one-time party chief of Liaoning, Wang Min. Chinese media reported that Su had given gold-plated materials to his superiors as a bribe in order to be promoted. It was considered highly unusual that he was elevated directly from the Shenyang deputy party chief position to a provincial

party standing committee Members of the standing committees of the Chinese Communist Party provincial-level committees, commonly referred to as ''Shengwei Changwei'' (), make up the top ranks of the provincial-level organizations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I ...

position overnight. The conjecture of events led the media to report that in all likelihood the "superior" Su had bribed was Wang Min. Su was expelled from the Communist Party on July 25, 2016. He was said to have bribed people during the "democratic consultation process" and internal party election, interfered in specific judicial cases, taken bribes in exchange for promotions, and conducted illicit "money-for-sex transactions". On May 19, 2017, Su was sentenced on 14 years in prison for taking bribes worth 19.96 million yuan (~$2.93 million) and giving bribes worth 1.1 million yuan (~$0.16 million) by the Intermediate People's Court in Harbin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Hongzhang 1959 births Chinese Communist Party politicians from Liaoning People's Republic of China politicians from Liaoning Political office-holders in Liaoning Politicians from Shenyang Liaoning University alumni Living people Chinese politicians convicted of corruption Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party