A high-ranking official from the Provincial Communications Bureau of Central China's Hunan Province is in custody and under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Bribes and preferential treatment are allegedly at the centre of the investigation into Yang Zhida, director of the Hunan Expressway Management Bureau under the communications bureau.

According to a communications bureau official who declined to be named, Yang "disappeared" after October 18.

Two days later, bureau officials were informed by the Discipline Inspection Department of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China that Yang was under investigation.

"There must be something huge below the surface. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection would not easily stir unless there is a certain amount of solid evidence," an official from the provincial disciplinary inspection department was quoted as saying by the Beijing News.

No further details were released.

The provincial disciplinary department refused to comment further, saying the matter was still confidential.

The Beijing News also reported that four of Yang's subordinates are under inspection at the same time.

Yang, 45, is a Hunan transportation veteran.

In 1978, he started his career as a technician for the Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Company. He then successively held the posts of manager of a subsidiary of the company and deputy manager of the company.

He was promoted to the position of director of the Hunan Highway Bureau in 1995 and from January 2001 until he was taken into custody, he served as the director of the Hunan Expressway Management Bureau and the manager of Hunan Expressway Construction and Development Company.

According to the Beijing News, Yang's case may just be the tip of the iceberg.

The newspaper said two other high-ranking officials were discovered to have "close relationships" with Yang.

Ma Qiwei, the former director of the Hunan Highway Bureau, is said to have once helped push Yang's official career.

In return, Yang gave priority to Ma's relatives during bids for projects he was in charge of.

Ma was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in 2002 for bribe-taking.

Wang Daosheng, deputy secretary-general of the Hunan provincial government, who was arrested in June this year for taking a large amount of bribes, is said to have protected Yang, when Ma was exposed.

The newspaper implied Wang's fall triggered Yang's exposure.

(China Daily November 9, 2004)