China's former head of religious affairs body expelled from CPC

Cui Maohu, former director of the National Religious Affairs Administration, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office over serious violations of Party discipline and law.

The punishment was announced in an official statement by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision on Wednesday.

An investigation into Cui, who also served as deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, found that he failed to commit to implementing the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee, occupied farmland for vanity projects, and resisted investigations into his performance.

The investigation also showed that Cui had been engaging in practices of extravagance and hedonism in disregard of the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct. Cui had, for a long time, accepted invitations to banquets and arranged trips that could have compromised his impartiality in performing official duties. He also failed to report his personal information in accordance with the rules and had been dishonest when asked to explain problems.

Cui's other offenses include accepting gifts and money in violation of regulations, using his influence to allow his relatives and others to profit from business contracting, and intervening in judicial proceedings, the statement said.

Cui was also accused of taking advantage of his position to seek profit for others in project contracting and in the selection and appointment of officials, while accepting huge amounts of money and property in return.

In line with Party regulations and laws, a decision has been made to expel him from the Party and public office, confiscate his illicit gains, and hand over his case to prosecutors for review and prosecution procedures, the statement said.

Cui's qualification as a delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress was also terminated, it added.