Former Xinjiang adviser sentenced for bribery

Dou Wangui, a former senior political adviser in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes, a court in southern China announced Wednesday.

The Liuzhou Intermediate People's Court in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region also ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets and the transfer of his illicit gains to the State treasury. He was also deprived of his political rights for life.

In China, a suspended death sentence is typically commuted to life in prison if the inmate commits no further crimes during the two-year probation period, and the sentence can be reduced further for good behavior.

The court found that Dou, 62, used his positions in Xinjiang between 2003 and 2022 to secure benefits for individuals and organizations in project contracting, business operations and job promotions. In return, he accepted bribes totaling more than 229 million yuan ($31.9 million).

His crimes were "extremely serious", the court said, and the large sums involved caused significant harm to public assets and the interests of the country and the people. However, the court said it showed leniency because he confessed, voluntarily disclosed bribes that were previously unknown to investigators and returned illicit gains. In addition, some of the bribes he sought were never given.

A native of Jiangsu province, Dou began working in 1982 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1986. He spent his entire career in Xinjiang, including nearly a decade in Aksu prefecture, where he became Party chief in September 2013. In January 2018, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Xinjiang committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Dou was placed under investigation in March last year on suspicion of seriously violating Party discipline and national laws. He was expelled from the Party and removed from public office in October. His case was heard publicly in Guangxi in April.