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By Micah McCartney
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Former Chinese Minister of Justice Tang Yijun was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, becoming the latest high-ranking official ensnared in President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign.
Why It Matters
The verdict comes just over a week after two top Chinese military officials—Joint Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli and General Zhang Youxia—were placed under investigation for corruption and serious political offenses, sparking renewed speculation over China's opaque internal politics.
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In September 2022, Tang's predecessor, Fu Zenghua, was handed a suspended death sentence for bribery that was later commuted to life imprisonment. In 2017, a third former justice minister, Wu Aiying, was ejected from the Chinese Communist Party due to "serious discipline problems"—a common party euphemism for corruption.
Corruption cases have long been viewed as a way for Xi to purge officials outside his inner circle while he consolidates power.
Newsweek reached out to China's Foreign Ministry by email with a request for comment outside regular office hours.
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What To Know
Tang Yijun assisted with land buybacks, corporate listings, and judicial cases in exchange for bribes totaling more than 137 million yuan ($19.7 million) between 2006 and 2022 while occupying various government posts, Xiamen Intermediate People’s Court said during sentencing, according to the state-run People’s Court News.
Tang’s crimes were particularly grievous because they had greatly harmed national and public interests, the court said.
Tang was minister of justice from April 2020 to February 2023. His failure to win a seat on the Central Committee, a top Communist Party’s decision-making body, during the 20th National Congress in 2022 was rare for a sitting minister and viewed by many analysts as an early sign he was under increased scrutiny.
He was placed under investigation in April 2024 for serious violations of discipline and law and was expelled from the Communist Party later that year.
Prior to that, he served as governor of Liaoning province and spent more than three decades of his political career in Zhejiang, the eastern province where Xi served as Communist Party secretary from 2002 to 2007. Tang, however, is not viewed as a close ally of the Chinese leader.
What People Are Saying
Shengyu Wang, research assistant with the Asia Society Institute's Center for China Analysis, told Newsweek: "This fits the emerging narrative that Mr. Xi began to tighten the noose around allies and long-time associates after he secured a third term in 2023.
"Inside China, few were surprised by Tang’s sentence. The Party has doubled down on its “self-revolution” drive, and the number of senior officials being investigated in 2025 hit a post-2012 record: CCDI [Central Commission for Discipline Inspection] data show 65 senior officials were investigated that year, breaking the previous record of 58 in 2024."
What Happens Next
The court stripped Tang of his political rights for life and ordered all his personal assets confiscated. He was spared the death penalty because he had confessed, expressed remorse, returned illicit gains, and voluntarily disclosed bribes previously unknown to investigators, the court said.
Update 4:07 ET 2/2/26. This article has been updated with a comment from Shengyu Wang and additional information.
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