Former director of China’s Geological Survey, Zhong Ziran, has recently been prosecuted for alleged bribery and intentional disclosure of state secrets. (Dajiyuan Composite)
[October 25, 2024] Zhong Ziran, the former director of the China Geological Survey, has been formally prosecuted on charges of bribery and intentional disclosure of state secrets.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced the news on October 25. According to the statement, Zhong is accused of leveraging his official position and influence to benefit others and of illegally accepting substantial bribes. Additionally, he allegedly disclosed state secrets intentionally, constituting severe circumstances. He now faces criminal charges of bribery and intentional disclosure of state secrets.
Zhong Ziran, 62, hails from Tongcheng, Anhui, and has worked in the Ministry of Land and Resources for many years, holding positions such as Director of the Geological Exploration Department, Deputy Director of the Geological Survey, and Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Land and Resources.
In 2014, Zhong became a member of the Party Group of the Ministry of Land and Resources and Director of the Geological Survey. After the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2018, he continued to serve as a Party Group member, Director, and Party Secretary of the Geological Survey.
In September 2022, Zhong stepped down from his position as Director of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. The following month, he was removed from his role as Director of the Geological Survey. In January of this year, Zhong's downfall was announced, making him the first high-ranking official ("first tiger") of 2024. He was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in June and arrested in July.
According to Caixin, Zhong Ziran is the first senior official in the land and resources system to fall from grace in nearly a decade. Eleven years ago, then Minister of Land and Resources Tian Fengshan was investigated and sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery two years later. Former CCP security chief Zhou Yongkang, sentenced to life for corruption, also served briefly as Minister of Land and Resources from 1998 to 1999.
It is worth noting that "intentional disclosure of state secrets" is a serious charge. The term is rarely used in the disciplinary notices of CCP officials. However, Zhou Yongkang and former Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ling Jihua, both implicated in high-level power struggles, faced similar accusations involving state secrets. Zhou was convicted of "intentional disclosure of state secrets," while Ling was convicted of "illegally obtaining state secrets."
According to CCP explanations, state secrets are defined as matters related to national security and interests, restricted to certain individuals and disclosed only through legally defined procedures for a specified period.
Chinese law stipulates that state employees who intentionally or negligently disclose state secrets face imprisonment of up to three years if the circumstances are severe, and three to seven years if they are especially severe.
Editor: Li Yuanrui
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