CHINA. PROPAGANDA BOSS, WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN GET SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCES

China handed a former city propaganda chief and an influential businessman suspended death sentences, state media said. Gao Yong, the former propaganda chief in Chengdu, a city in the southwestern province of Sichuan, received a two-year suspended death sentence recently at the Sichuan Higher People's Court, the Beijing Morning Post reported. He was found guilty of using his political clout for material gain, amassing a total of 9.9 million yuan (1.2 million dollars) in bribes.
In a separate case, the Higher People's Court in south China's Guangdong province handed out a two-year suspended death sentence to wealthy businessman Yang Gaiqing, Xinhua news agency reported.
Yang, formerly the general manager of Huiwei Industry and Trade in Guangdong's Shenzhen city, was convicted of coordinating a smuggling ring and oiling the wheels by arranging bribery of officials.
The court was told 50-year-old Yang, a resident of Hong Kong, smuggled 827,500 tons of edible oil into the Chinese mainland and evaded over 2.4 billion yuan (300 million dollars) in tariffs.
Yang reportedly gave bribes worth about 10 million yuan (1.2 million dollars) to local customs officials to facilitate the smuggling.