Local official tipped to be deputy county head used another man’s identity to get into college, whistleblower claims.
By Yan Jie
An official in central China’s Hunan province has been stripped of his nomination to a senior governmental position following revelations that he had previously gained admission to a technical college by impersonating somebody else.
Leng Liqun, 41, who is currently head of the development and reform bureau of Xinning County in southwestern Hunan, has been disqualified from applying for the post of deputy county head, according to an official announcement seen Tuesday by the Paper, the sister publication of Sixth Tone.
The announcement was issued by the party committee of Shaoyang City, which oversees the selection of officials in Xinning County. The nomination to a deputy county head would have made Leng one of the leading officials in the region.
On Aug. 25, the announcement stated, a whistleblower claimed online that his identity and academic record had been stolen by Leng in 1992 so he could secure a place on a course of study at a Shaoyang agricultural college. The accusation, which was soon verified, came three days after Leng officially received his nomination to the senior governmental role.
Leng adopted the name of Jiang Luming at the school, but later managed to use his real name upon graduation, said the whistleblower, claiming to be Jiang himself. “His scores were too low, so no schools would have taken him,” the whistleblower had written in his online post.
On Aug. 28, the nomination process was suspended by Shaoyang’s party committee, the announcement said, adding that Leng’s violation of party discipline and rules would be handled seriously.
(Header image: A delegate walks through a curtain at the Great Hall of the People during the opening session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2016. Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuter/VCG)
