China investigates state television producer amid corruption probe

BEIJING - Chinese anti-graft authorities are investigating a television producer related to a disgraced former presidential aide probed for graft last month, the media reported on Monday, as the leadership widens a crackdown on corruption.

Luo Fanghua, an executive of the business channel at state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), is the latest of several of the network's senior producers, executives and journalists to face investigation for corruption.

Luo is married to the brother-in-law of Ling Jihua, once a top aide to Chinese President Hu Jintao who came under investigation last month, according to ThePaper.cn, a state-backed news website.

Luo's husband, Gu Yuanxu, was sacked from his public security post in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang after Ling came under investigation, the report said, citing the respected financial news magazine Caixin.

Ling was demoted in September 2012 after sources said his son was involved in the deadly crash of a flashy sports car, embarrassing the ruling Communist Party, which is sensitive over perceptions of extravagance by top party officials and their families.

Prosecutors detained popular news anchor Rui Chenggang, also from CCTV's finance channel, in July. Two network executives, Guo Zhenxi and Li Yong, were also detained last summer.

A total of eight senior directors, producers and anchors from the successful business channel were interrogated over bribery allegations over the past year, ThePaper.cn reported.

China has vowed to crack down on corruption in its media, including the state-owned press, where critics say blackmail is widespread and journalists are susceptible to bribery.

The powerful Central Military Commission will send an anti-graft inspection team to the party committee of the China Armed Police Force, the official China Daily reported on Monday. The police force is responsible for domestic security.

The team will scrutinize housing projects, personnel management and real estate, the newspaper said.

The move comes days after China detained one of its top spy bosses, Ma Jian, who had worked under disgraced domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is caught up in a major corruption scandal.