China’s Communist party has launched an investigation into yet another senior official as President Xi Jinping broadens the scope of an anti-corruption campaign to encompass the inner circle of his predecessor Hu Jintao.
Ling Jihua, a former top aide to Mr Hu, is the latest senior official to fall afoul of Mr Xi’s anti-graft campaign, which has so far targeted tens of thousands of mainly low-ranking officials since December 2012. Mr Ling joins a growing list of high-ranking figures targeted for corruption probes, including General Xu Caihou, who once oversaw promotions in the Peoples’ Liberation Army, and Zhou Yongkang, the former head of the domestic security service.
Mr Ling became a target for scrutiny two years ago, following the death of his son at the wheel of a Ferrari. Two women were also injured in the crash, one of whom later died. The incident, which was hushed up by the Communist party, came to symbolise the excesses of the top elite and appeared to pave the way for Mr Xi’s anti-corruption probe, which start later that year.