Ex-presidential aide in China sentenced to life in prison for corruption

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Ling Jihua.
(Image credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A top aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao was convicted of accepting bribes, abusing power, and stealing state secrets, and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Ling Jihua, who once held a post considered the Chinese equivalent of the White House chief of staff and was one of Hu's most trusted advisers, was arrested last summer as part of a massive anti-corruption campaign by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Prosecutors accused him of accepting more than $11 million in bribes, either directly or through family members, and using his clout to help get people promoted and acquire homes, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.