Sun Lijun

In this Chinese name, the family name is Sun.

Sun Lijun (Chinese: 孙力军; born 13 January 1969) is a former Chinese politician and police officer. He was investigated by the Chinese Communist Party's anti-graft agency in April 2020^[1] and was given the death sentence with reprieve for bribery and corruption in September 2022.^[2] Sun Lijun was affiliated with a group of other corrupt officials associated with Jiang Zemin.^[3]

Sun Lijun
孙力军
Vice Minister Public Security
In office 28 March 2018 – 8 May 2020
Minister	Zhao Kezhi
Personal details
Born	(1969-01-13) 13 January 1969 (age 55) Shanghai, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (1997–2021; expelled)
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	孙力军
Traditional Chinese	孫力軍
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Lìjūn

Previously he served as vice-minister of Public Security and vice-president of the China Law Society.^[4] Prior to that, he served as director of the First Bureau of Ministry of Public Security, handling domestic political security. And he served as the ministry's director of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office and a deputy director of the 610 Office, which was in charge of suppressing Falun Gong practitioners. Sun became the second official at provincial or ministerial level to be investigated by the anti-corruption watchdog in 2020, after Zhang Zhinan, former vice governor of east China's Fujian province.^[5]

Career

Sun was born in Shanghai on 13 January 1969. He entered the workforce in September 1988, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in December 1997. He successively served as deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai People's Government, deputy director of the General Office of the Ministry of Public Security, member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security, director of the 26th Bureau of the First Bureau, deputy director of the 610 Office of the Central Committee, director of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Public Security.^[6] On March 28, 2018, he was promoted to become deputy minister and a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security.^[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he went to Wuhan to supervise the epidemic prevention and control work as a member of the Central Leading Group for Coronavirus Pneumonia Outbreak [zh].

Death sentence

On April 19, 2020, he has been placed under investigation for serious violations of laws and regulations by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party's internal disciplinary body, and the National Supervisory Commission, the highest anti-corruption agency of China.^[8] His colleague, Meng Hongwei, was sacked for graft in October 2018.^[9][10] Exiled tycoon Guo Wengui said both Sun and Meng Hongwei belong to a group known informally as the "Shanghai clique", led by CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's political rival, former general secretary Jiang Zemin.^[3]

On September 30, 2021, he was expelled from the CCP and removed from public office.^{[11][12][13][14][15]} On November 4, he was detained by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.^[16]

On July 8, 2022, he stood trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun on charges of taking bribes.^[17] Prosecutors accused Sun of taking advantage of his different positions between 2008 and 2018 to seek profits for various companies and individuals in business favours, government jobs and promotions.^[17] In return, he accepted money and property worth over 646 million yuan ($95.74 million).^[17] On September 23, he received a suspended death sentence that could be commuted to life in prison after two years, with no possibility of parole.^[2][18][19] He was also deprived of political rights for life and all his properties were also confiscated.^[2][18][19]

References

1. Zhou, Cissy (19 April 2020). "China's deputy public security minister faces corruption probe for 'serious violations of discipline and the law'". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
2. William, Zheng (23 September 2022). "Chinese "political clique" leader Sun Lijun faces life in jail for corruption as law enforcement purge winds down". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
3. Joyce Huang (20 April 2020). "China's Vice Minister of Public Security Arrested in Corruption Probe". voanews.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
4. Gertz, Bill (19 April 2020). "Senior Chinese security official under investigation". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
5. Cao, Yin (20 April 2020). "Sun Lijun becomes second provincial-level official to face probe". China Daily. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
6. Viswanatha, Aruna (2020-08-24). "New Details Revealed of RNC Fundraiser's Lobbying for China". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
7. 公安部领导班子新增两员：副部长许甘露、孙力军. sina (in Chinese). 28 March 2018. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
8. "China turfs Sun Lijun, ex-deputy public security minister". thestandard.com.hk. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
9. Chun Han Wong (20 April 2020). "China Reveals Probe of Another Top Law-Enforcement Official". wsj.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
10. Ding Mengshuo (丁梦硕) (20 April 2020). 财经：公安部副部长孙力军因何被查？. ifeng.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
11. Charlie Zhu; Jing Li; Winnie Zhu (30 September 2021). "China Expels Former Vice Minister of Public Security on Probe". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
12. "China accuses ex-security official of poor integrity, greed". washingtonpost.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
13. William Zheng (30 September 2021). "'Decadent' former Chinese police chief Sun Lijun to face trial for corruption". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
14. "Former vice public security minister expelled from CCP, office". xinhuanet.com. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
15. Wang Shanshan (王珊珊) (30 September 2021). 公安部原副部长孙力军被双开，措辞极严厉！. sina (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 October 2021.
16. 中国公安部前副部长孙力军被正式逮捕. Deutsch Welle (in Chinese). 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
17. Guo, Rui (8 July 2022). "China's former police vice-minister Sun Lijun pleads guilty to bribery, stocks fraud". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
18. Yew Lun, Tian (23 September 2022). "Ringleader of 'clique' against Chinese Communist Party leadership faces life in jail". reuters.com. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
19. "Former vice public security minister sentenced to death with reprieve". xinhuanet.com. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.