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Corruption linked to China TV tower blaze: report
Beijing (AFP) March 5, 2009 A top television executive arrested after a huge fire that gutted a tower built by China's state broadcaster and killed a fireman is being investigated for graft, Chinese media reported Thursday. Investigators of the blaze in Beijing said Xu Wei, the highest-ranking official to be arrested in the case, may have had orders from above to set off the fireworks that led to the inferno, this week's Caijing Magazine said. The illegal fireworks display on February 9, the last day of China's lunar New Year holiday, started a blaze that lit up Beijing's skyline and consumed a nearly-completed 30-storey building that was to house a luxury hotel. One fireman was killed while trying to put out the inferno in the tower, located next to China Central Television's futuristic new headquarters. Police are looking into an inappropriately high commission that Xu received from the purchase of the fireworks, Caijing said. He is also being investigated for a string of companies that he was linked to, one of which received over 100 million yuan (14.6 million dollars) in business from China Central Television (CCTV), his employer, it said. Investigators are also looking into the 20 billion yuan construction fund for the CCTV tower which Xu, 50, has controlled since 2003, it added. "Investigators so far have been inclined to pin the major responsibility on CCTV, while putting minor blame on others," the report said. "According to the preliminary investigation, the order to launch the (fireworks) display came through official channels, not via an order from Xu." Although Xu may ultimately be found not guilty of ordering the fireworks display, investigators would still have their hands full probing his companies and his links to other CCTV executives, it said. The fire has become a huge embarrassment to the government as CCTV is one of the ruling Communist Party's main propaganda arms. Chinese bloggers have defied censorship efforts and ridiculed CCTV over the debacle, with some celebrating the fire as a deserved punishment for the station's propaganda mission. The CCTV headquarters next to the burnt-out building served as a symbol of China's modernisation during the Beijing Olympics and were slated to be occupied by the state broadcaster in October this year. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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