時事新聞:劉志軍因受賄被判處死緩

China has handed down the most significant corruption sentence in more than five years in a case seen as a test of how far the new leadership will go in fighting graft.

中國對5年多來最引人注目的一起腐敗案件做出判決，此案被視爲對新領導層打擊腐敗決心的考驗。

Liu Zhijun, former railway minister, was yesterday given a suspended death sentence for bribery and abuse of power, state media said.

官方媒體報道稱，鐵道部前部長劉志軍昨天因受賄和濫用職權被判處死緩。

Mr Liu was removed from the railway ministry more than two years ago under the government of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, who retired in March, but the ruling comes as Mr Hu’s successor, President Xi Jinping, has made an anti-corruption campaign a cornerstone of his rule.

早在兩年多前，劉志軍就被胡錦濤和溫家寶（兩人於今年3月退休）政府罷免鐵道部長職務，但此次判決的背景是胡錦濤的繼任者、中國國家主席習近平將反腐運動作爲其執政的基石。

Many independent ob-servers have dismissed the campaign as an attempt by the ruling Communist party to improve its image without making substantial changes.

許多獨立觀察人士對反腐運動並不看好，認爲它代表着執政的共產黨試圖在不做出實質性變革的前提下改善自身形象。

The former railway minister’s case has been overshadowed by the fall of Bo Xilai, the former party secretary of the western municipality of Chongqing and aspirant to a senior leadership seat. Mr Bo was sacked last year following the flight of his former police chief to a US consulate and the prosecution of his wife for involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former British business associate.

比起薄熙來的落馬，劉志軍一案有些相形見絀。薄熙來曾任西部直轄市重慶的市委書記，並渴望躋身最高領導層圈子。在重慶前公安局局長叛逃至美國領事館，以及妻子因參與謀殺前英國生意夥伴尼爾•海伍德(Neil Heywood)而被提起公訴後，薄熙來去年被解除職務。

The Communist party’s internal discipline watchdog accused Mr Bo of a long list of corruption-related crimes. However, Mr Bo has yet to be formally tried.

共產黨內部的紀檢部門指控薄熙來犯有多項與腐敗有關的罪名，但薄尚未正式受審。

Mr Liu is the most senior official to be convicted of corruption since Chen Liangyu, former Communist party secretary of Shanghai and a member of the party’s politburo, was given an 18-year prison term on corruption charges in April 2008.

劉志軍是陳良宇以來被判犯有腐敗罪名的最高級別官員。陳良宇是前上海市委書記、中共中央政治局委員，於2008年4月因腐敗罪名被判處18年有期徒刑。

Mr Liu took Rmb64.4m ($10.53m) in bribes for helping 11 people win contracts or get promotions between 1986 and 2011, said Xinhua, the official news agency.

官方通訊社新華社稱，在1986年至2011年期間，劉志軍受賄人民幣6440萬元（1053萬美元），幫助11個人贏得合同或升職。

Chinese law allows the death penalty against people convicted of taking bribes of more than Rmb100,000. Death sentences with a two-year reprieve like the one given to Mr Liu are often converted to life in prison.

根據中國法律，被認定受賄超過人民幣10萬元者便有可能被判處死刑。劉志軍被判處死刑緩期兩年執行，該刑罰通常會轉化爲無期徒刑。