BEIJING: A former senior executive at a big Chinese defence industry company owned by a provincial government has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party for corruption, the Party’s anti-corruption watchdog said yesterday.
Huang Xiaohu, former party secretary and chairman of China’s Anhui Military Industry Group, had been under investigation by the Party since January 2013 for violations of party discipline and the law.
“(Huang) used his position to seek benefits for others, accepted huge amounts of bribes, and bribed government workers in huge amounts for illegitimate interests,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website.
China’s anti-corruption campaign, launched by President Xi Jinping who vowed to go after high-ranking “tigers” and lowly “flies,” has led to the detention of some senior government officials as well as senior executives in major state firms, including PetroChina Co Ltd.
Obama’s Asia tour slammed
SEOUL: North Korea warned yesterday that an upcoming Asian tour by US President Barack Obama could escalate military tensions, as South Korean media cited intelligence reports of increased activity at the North’s main nuclear test site.
Obama’s April 23-29 tour includes visits to Japan and South Korea, the two main US military allies in Asia and key partners in the effort to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said the “reactionary and dangerous” trip would only serve to “escalate confrontation and bring dark clouds of a nuclear arms race” over the Korean peninsula.
In a statement carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, the spokesman said recent Asia visits by the US Secretaries of State and Defence had sought to demonise the North’s nuclear and missile programmes and justify a growing US military presence in the region.
“It is as clear as noonday that Obama will trumpet the same thing,” he said.
Sherpas seek compensation
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Sherpas have demanded compensation of $10,000 for the families of 16 colleagues dead or missing in an avalanche on Mount Everest and double the insurance cover for expeditions on the world’s highest mountain, crowded with climbers.
The government has announced an immediate payment of $400 to the victims’ families to cover funeral costs.
But there is no provision for compensation for Sherpas who are hired by international expeditions to carry gear, and in the past these groups have provided financial assistance on their own in the case of accidents. Agencies
