(TibetanReview.net, Jul17’25) – A court in Beijing on Jul 16 sentenced former party chief of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to death, with a two-year reprieve, for accepting bribes totalling more than 343 million yuan ($47.78 million), reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Jul 16, citing an announcement from the court. Also, Luo Yulin, a former senior official at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and who served in Qinghai province from Dec 1979 to Nov 2015, was sentenced to death, with a two-year reprieve, by a court in Shandong province Jul 14 for bribery and insider trading.
The ruling from the Beijing No 3 Intermediate People’s Court was cited a saying Wu was also deprived of his political rights for life; that all his personal assets were confiscated. “His illicit gains and related interest will be turned over to the state treasury.”
China’s party and government anti-corruption watchdogs earlier said Wu had violated Party disciplines and national laws, harming the region’s development. They also accused him of failing to implement the Party’s strategy for governing TAR and interfering with engineering projects for personal gain, according to a chinadaily.com.cn report Mar 20.
A suspended death sentence is typically commuted to life in prison if the inmate commits no further crimes during the two-year probation period. Besides, the sentence can be reduced further for good behaviour.
The court was stated to have found that from Jun 2006 to Feb 2021, Wu used his positions in TAR, including as Party secretary (2016 to 2021) and vice-chairman of the regional government, to seek benefits for departments and individuals in matters such as project contracting and business operations. In return, he accepted bribes worth more than 343 million yuan.
Justifying the sentence of death, the court has said the sum of his bribes was “extremely large” and the circumstances of his offenses were “extremely serious,” bringing “extremely negative” effects to society and causing “extremely significant” losses to the interests of the country and the people.
However, it continued, leniency was shown because Wu disclosed others’ suspected illegal activities, made unsuccessful bribery attempts, voluntarily reported bribes unknown to investigators, confessed to his crimes and actively returned his illicit gains.
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Wu, 68, a native of Changyi County in Shandong province, grew up in TAR, where he graduated from Xizang Minzu University, also known as Tibet University for Nationalities, He began his career in Oct 1974 and joined the Communist Party of China in May 1987. He held various positions in TAR for decades.
The Chinadaily.com.cn report of Mar 20 cited prosecutors as saying his bribe-taking years spanned from Jun 2006 to Feb 2021 while holding senior positions in TAR, including as the regional party secretary, vice-chairman of the regional government, and head of the regional publicity department.
After TAR, he served as deputy head of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, between Oct 2021 and Mar 2023.
Before being put under investigation in Jun 2024, Wu was a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body, serving as head of its Committee on Cultural, Historical Data and Studies.
He was expelled from the Party and removed from public office at the end of last year. He was indicted on bribery charges in March this year, and his case was publicly heard in late March, the report said.
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As party secretary, Wu, like his predecessors, maintained a hardline approach toward Tibetan affairs, aligning closely with Beijing’s policies. His tenure was marked by a strong emphasis on Sinicization, ideological control, and stringent security measures. He prioritized political stability and Sinicization over Tibetan autonomy and cultural preservation. While occasionally speaking of respecting Tibetan customs, his actions were directed at the erosion of Tibetan identity under the guise of integration.
Wu was one of two Chinese officials sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in Dec 2022 over accusations of human rights abuses in Tibet. It said Wu directed policies that involved abuses including “extrajudicial killings, physical abuse, arbitrary arrests, and mass detentions.”
In Dec 2024, Canada also sanctioned Wu over alleged human rights violations.
China condemned both the moves.
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Earlier, the Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Luo to death with a two-year reprieve after finding that he accepted bribes worth more than 220 million yuan ($30.70 million) between 1997 and 2023, which included his 36 years of serving in Qinghai province till Nov 2015. The court said Luo used his various positions during that time to seek benefits from departments and individuals in business operations, project contracting and job promotions, said the chinadaily.com.cn report Mar 20.
It said the court ordered the transfer of Luo’s illicit gains and related interests to the State treasury.
Luo, 66 and a native of Henan province, began his career in 1976 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1984. Before his role at the commission, he spent many years in Qinghai province, including as deputy head of the provincial finance department and as vice-governor.
Luo was placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation in May 2023 and expelled from the Party in November that year. He was indicted in June last year, and his trial began in November.