Gao Yan (politician)

Gao Yan (born 1942) is a Chinese former politician. He served as the Governor of Jilin and the Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan and was a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[1] He reportedly fled the country in 2002 amidst investigations into corruption as the leader of the State Power Corporation of China.[2][3]

For other uses, see Gao Yan.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Gao.
Gao Yan
高严
8th Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan
In office
June 1995 – August 1997
Preceded byPu Chaozhu
Succeeded byLinghu An
11th Governor of Jilin
In office
March 1992 – 1995
Preceded byWang Zhongyu
Succeeded byWang Yunkun
Personal details
Born1942 (age 80–81)
Fuyu, Jilin Province
Political partyCommunist Party of China
EducationChangchun Power School
OccupationPolitician, engineer
Gao Yan
Simplified Chinese高严
Traditional Chinese高嚴

Early life

Gao was born in 1942, in Fuyu County, Jilin. His family came from Hebei Province. He was admitted to the Changchun Power School, a polytechnic school, training as an engineer.[4][5] Gao graduated early in 1962. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in June 1965, after serving as a technician, supervisor, and secretary in the Communist Youth League.[4]

Career

Gao worked at the Jilin Provincial Electricity Bureau from 1975 to 1988, after which he became vice-governor of the province for the CPC.[1][5] He served as Governor of Jilin from March 1992 to 1995 and was a member of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.[1][2]

Gao was the Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan Province from June 1995 to August 1997 and was appointed general manager of the State Power Corporation in 1998.[1][2] He oversaw a three-year credit deal with China Construction Bank in August 2001.[6] He reportedly resigned as the director of the State Power Corporation on 2 August 2002.[7]

Fleeing and investigation

Gao left China in September 2002, weeks prior to the 16th National Congress in November.[2][5] It was reported that he was not seen in public since 29 August.[5] He was the highest-ranking official to flee the nation in ten years.[2]

In October of that year, Gao had been investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for corruption and the embezzlement of funds; he was later branded a "traitor" by the Government of China.[2] The investigation triggered a steep drop in the stock value of the State Power Corporation.[2][5] There were also charges made against twenty other senior personnel of the Corporation.[7]

Some analysts believed that this was an indirect move against Li Peng, then second-in-command of the CPC and who had close links to the Corporation, ahead of his expected resignation at the 16th National Congress.[5][6] Ding Xueliang, an expert on corruption at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, stated that "the leaders see how much anger has gathered in society against corrupt officials, and they know they need to punish a few to help pacify the situation".[8]

In 2014, Gao was suspected to be living in Australia; as part of Operation Fox Hunt, the Chinese and Australian governments collaborated to attempt to track a "priority list" of wanted people, including Gao.[3]

References
  1. "Gao Yan 高严". China Vitae. 17 April 2003. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  2. Yu, Verna; Wang, Xiangwei (15 October 2003). "State power chief who fled abroad is branded a traitor". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. Meng, Angela (21 October 2014). "China seeks help from Australia to track fugitives". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. "Senior Chinese official held after attempt to flee abroad – Hong Kong report". BBC Monitoring. 7 November 2002. ProQuest 449854785.
  5. Chu, Henry (17 October 2002). "The World; Chinese Official Flees; Gao Yan, a Central Committee member and a top executive at a huge power company, was the target of a corruption probe, sources say". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 421737763.
  6. Goodman, Peter S. (16 October 2002). "Chinese Energy Executive Vanishes; Disappearance Pegs Gao Yan as Possible Target of Corruption Probe". The Washington Post. ProQuest 409361935.
  7. O'Neill, Mark (14 October 2002). "Beijing to break silence on Gao Yan Official publication hints that buy-back and personnel issues among reasons behind investigation of State Power chief". South China Morning Post. ProQuest 265793956.
  8. Eckholm, Erik (19 October 2002). "Chinese Power Company Chief Flees the Country and Scrutiny". New York Times. ProQuest 92242267.
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