Beijing traffic chief on trial for bribes worth US$3.7 million
Song Jianguo accused of taking cash and real estate in return for supplying the highly-prized ‘Jing-A’ licence plates
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 May, 2015, 5:42pm
UPDATED : Monday, 25 May, 2015, 5:42pm
Li Jing [email protected]
Song Jianguo. Photo: screenshot from Sina Weibo
A former head of Beijing’s transport authority has gone on trial accused of taking bribes worth over 23 million yuan (US$3.75 million) in return for issuing car registration plates.
Song Jianguo, 61, the ex-chief of the Beijing Transport Administration, has been charged at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court with taking kickbacks in the form of cash and real estate in return for supplying Jing-A plates – once available only to government and Communist Party organs – to individuals and companies.
Those he is alleged to have supplied the plates to include the controversial business tycoon Guo Wengui and a government-controlled taxi operator in the capital.
Eleven people, including Song’s secretary Wang Fei, have already been sentenced for taking bribes in relation to the case.
Jing-A car plates – plates that start with the Chinese character for ‘Jing’ followed by the letter ‘A’ – were issued exclusively to government cars at a time when there were still few private vehicles in the city. After Beijing introduced a lottery system for car registration, Jing-A plates became a status symbol for car owners.
Mainland newspapers claimed today that Song had also been involved in approving the LED screens that hang from the Pangu Plaza, a luxury hotel owned by Guo that is located next to the ‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium.
China Youth Daily reported that seven screens, with a total area of 2,753 square metres, had been built without approval from Beijing authorities. It said authorities saw the signs as a traffic hazard and had ordered them to be removed in the run up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The newspaper claimed that around this time Guo had invited Song for a meal, and that shortly afterwards the Beijing Transportation Administration ruled the signs posed no risk to road safety. The newspaper said that the plaza operator was allowed to air advertisements on the screens in November that year.
Song’s lawyers told the newspaper that Song approved the signs only after the intervention of the Ministry of State Security.
Ma Jian, the former deputy minister for state security, is also being investigated on suspicion of corruption.
Mainland media have claimed that Guo conspired with government officials including Ma. Guo has publicly confessed to having a “close relationship” with Ma, but has denied colluding with him.
