Chen Xitong

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen.

Chen Xitong
陈希同
8th CPC Beijing Committee Secretary
In office October 1992 – September 1995
Preceded by	Li Ximing
Succeeded by	Li Qiyan
8th Mayor of Beijing
In office April 1983 – January 1993
Preceded by	Jiao Ruoyu
Succeeded by	Wei Jianxing
Personal details
Born	(1930-06-10)June 10, 1930 Anyue, Sichuan
Died	Beijing
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China
Alma mater	Peking University

Chen Xitong (Chinese: 陈希同; pinyin: Chén Xītóng; June 10, 1930 – June 2, 2013) was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and the Mayor of Beijing until he was removed from office on charges of corruption in 1995.

Early life

Chen was born on June 10, 1930, in Anyue, Sichuan Province. He attended Peking University at the age of 18 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.

Political career

Chen Xitong was the mayor of Beijing during the Tiananmen Square Crackdown. He also expressed that he was "sorry" for the event of June 4, 1989, saying that no one should have died in the crackdown.

A onetime political rival to Jiang Zemin, Chen, being the leader of "Beijing clique", challenged Jiang's newly obtained authority during his presidency. This led to Chen's downfall in 1995 during an anti-corruption campaign led by Jiang's Shanghai clique. Some observers view Chen's downfall as a political struggle between Chen and Jiang. According to the book Conversations with Chen Xitong by Yao Jianfu, based on interviews with Chen, he denied the corruption charges brought against him, calling them "the worst miscarriage of justice involving a high-level leader since the Cultural Revolution, or since 1989... an absurd miscarriage of justice."

Chen's Vice Mayor, Wang Baosen, suicide in 1994 led to a confrontational power struggle between "Beijing clique" and "Shanghai clique". It was later stated that the amount of money Chen embezzled was directed to build vacational recreation centers which catered to most top-tier politicians in Beijing at the time. He was also accused of having extramarital affair with lover, He Ping. In 1998, Chen Xitong was given a 16-year jail sentence on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. His son, Chen Xiaotong, was also sentenced. Chen was released early from Qincheng Prison in 2006, officially due to reasons of ill health.

The novel The Wrath of Heaven — the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Action (天怒—反貪局在行動; pinyin: Tiān nù—Fǎntānjú zài Xíngdòng) published in 1996 is a fictionalized account of the Chen Xitong case written from the point of a view of an investigator and was quickly banned in China.

Chen died of cancer on June 2, 2013, just two days short of the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Crackdown. He was 82.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Jiao Ruoyu	Mayor of Beijing 1983 – 1993	Succeeded by Li Qiyan
Preceded by Li Ximing	Secretary of the CPC Beijing Committee 1992 – 1995	Succeeded by Wei Jianxing