Shanghai boss to jail, Torch runs past his cell

WSJ Areddy focuses on the cadre's ex boss of Shanghai. Implicit in this story is that the cadre does not and cannot live by rules, because there are no rules, no facts, no courts, no memory. There is only the passion of the moment. One day you are party boss of Shanghai with a personal credit line. The next day you are ex boss. The passions of the cadre are unpredictable and unreliable. It is the rule of men, not law. And vain, ill-educated, stubborn, powerless men. The Torch threatens everything the cadre stands for. The Torch does not listen to their whining and exhorting. The Torch is liberty, and liberty makes the cadre sleepless awaiting the jail sentence they each know is coming.

Former Shanghai Party Boss
Sent to Prison for 18 Years
Sentence Concludes
One of China's
Biggest Scandals By JAMES T. AREDDY
April 11, 2008 9:10 a.m.
SHANGHAI -- A Chinese court has sentenced the former top Communist Party official in Shanghai, Chen Liangyu, to 18 years in prison on corruption charges, the culmination of one of the most high profile scandals in recent Chinese history.
Mr. Chen, 61 years old, was found guilty of accepting bribes, abusing his power and neglecting his duties while serving as Shanghai Party Secretary, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Mr. Chen was ousted from his position as Shanghai Communist Party Secretary in September 2006. As one of 24 members of the party's ruling Political Bureau at the time of his detention, Mr. Chen was the highest-level party official purged at least since the mid-1990s, and the impact was felt widely in China's commercial capital.

Mr. Chen's lawyer, Gao Zicheng, a partner of Beijing's Kang Da Law Firm, confirmed basic details of verdict. He said the former party secretary hasn't decided whether to appeal the verdict which also includes a fine of 300,000 yuan, or about $42,860.

Mr. Chen was removed from office in a case that initially stemmed from allegations the city's $1.2 billion pension fund had been abused. The case underlined pledges from China's leadership that corruption would be tackled even among top officials and signaled how the administration of President Hu Jintao had consolidated power against a previous generation of leaders who emanated from Shanghai.