BEIJING, Jan 20: A court in Beijing today sentenced a former Chinese Communist Party chief of Urumqi, the capital of the violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang, to 12 years in jail after finding him guilty of corruption. Yang Gang was indicted for accepting bribes last year. Yang served as party secretary of Urumqi between 1999 and 2006. The Beijing court said in a statement that Yang abused his power while working in Xinjiang by providing “assistance” to others in promotions and winning contracts. He also took 13.79 million yuan (2.10 million dollars) in bribes that were channelled via his wife and son, the court said. Yang confessed his crimes and gave help in the investigation into him, meaning he received a lighter sentence, it added. President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping campaign against deep-seated graft since assuming office three years ago, and dozens of senior officials have been jailed. Xinjiang is one of China’s most sensitive regions. Hundreds have died there in unrest in recent years, blamed by the government on Islamist militants who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Many rights groups and foreign experts though say the root cause of the problems is unhappiness among the Muslim Uighur people who call Xinjiang home over controls on their religion and culture. China denies any repression in Xinjiang and says it faces a very real terrorist threat. (AGENCIES)
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