Shanghai Corruption Scandal broadens

More on the Shanghai corruption investigation. Keep in mind that they could find this same thing in any city in China. The reporting of this scandal suggests there is something unique about Shanghai. The author's reference to political motivations is a widely held belief throughout China and probably accurate.

A former political secretary of late Vice Premier Huang Ju has been detained as a result of the Shanghai pension fund corruption investigation, the Financial Times reported. Wang Weigong's detention was reported Friday by a Chinese financial magazine. Huang, who died in June, was a high-ranking member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the country's most powerful body. Wang joins former Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu as a target of an investigation into the misuse of Shanghai's pension fund. Chen was expelled from the party in July and is awaiting trial on corruption charges. Wang's detention has been interpreted by some as an effort by President Hu Jintao to purge the party of remnants of the "Shanghai gang" led by his predecessor, Jiang Zemin.