The former Xinjiang party chief ‘lost his ideals and beliefs’ and betrayed the party’s principles, watchdog finds
Ma, 67, who once headed China’s new-generation carrier rocket programme, became the third member of the Politburo – the ruling party’s elite political body – to come under investigation in the current term that began in 2022, a situation unseen in decades.
Before his role in Xinjiang, Ma became deputy party secretary of the southern province of Guangdong in 2013 after a brief stint at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. He went on to become party secretary of Shenzhen, provincial vice-governor and then governor.
The Politburo reviewed and approved the report on Ma’s cases by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the ruling party’s top disciplinary and anti-corruption body, on June 30, according to state-run news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
Ma was found to have “lost his ideals and beliefs”, abandoned “his political conviction”, “betrayed the party’s principles and original mission” and “seriously violated [the party’s] political discipline and rules”, the Xinhua report said.
China announced the investigation into Ma in April.