The former chairman of China Eastern is under investigation for corruption (thanks to SK for flagging this). I’m not sure how much transparency there will be into what happened, but this could get interesting…
In this post:
Former China Eastern executive faces government probe
Today (June 28, 2025), the Chinese government has announced that the former head of China Eastern Airlines is under investigation over corruption allegations. Liu Shaoyong was head of China Eastern from 2009 until he resigned in 2022. He has also held the position of party secretary at the airline.
He’s being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and law,” per a statement from China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission. Some reports suggest that the former China Eastern executive and even some family members have been taken into custody, but those details weren’t part of the official statement.
China Eastern is based in Shanghai, and is primarily owned by the government of China through its parent company, and it’s one of the three largest airlines in China. The airline grew a ton under his leadership, and also went from losing money to being profitable.
This investigation is part of President Xi Jinping’s corruption crackdown, which admittedly people have differing takes on (for obvious reasons).
I’m curious what this corruption probe reveals
Admittedly over the years we’ve seen quite a few executives at state run airlines charged with corruption (at Garuda Indonesia, Thai Airways, etc.). All too often, they’re simply looking to pad their own pockets, rather than looking out for the best interests of the airline.
What I find interesting about this update — and it could be a total coincidence — is the timing. Liu resigned in August 2022, shortly after China Eastern’s deadly March 2022 Boeing 737 crash, which killed 132 people. In and of itself, that’s not unusual.
However, yesterday I covered how China is refusing to reveal the reason for this crash, claiming that “disclosure may endanger national security and social stability.” That’s quite a statement.
So it’s possible that these things are totally unrelated, but the timing here is interesting — Liu resigned shortly after the accident, and now it has been announced that he’s being investigated for corruption around the same time that the government has announced it can’t reveal the cause of the crash.
Again, it could be totally unrelated, but that’s quite some timing. Even if it were related, it’s hard to know what to make of that, since it’s not like the Chinese government is exactly known for… well, you know.
Bottom line
The former chairman of China Eastern is being investigated by the government for corruption. He was in charge of the airline for 13 years, and oversaw quite the transformation at the company. It’s hard to know what exactly to make of this, given the party investigating him.
The timing sure is strange, though. He resigned soon after China Eastern’s major fatal crash, and the announcement of his investigation comes at the same time that the government is refusing to reveal the cause of the crash, on the basis of “national security and social stability.”
What do you make of the investigation of this former China Eastern executive?
Accusing officials or former officials of "corruption" is the way Xi and his apparatchiks deal with their political enemies. Or their perceived political enemies. The paranoia of the senior Chinese leadership puts Stalin to shame. "Stamping out corruption" is a positive euphemism for "purging enemies of the State".
So Delta invested several millions or 3.55% in China Eastern where the CEO was also CCP secretary at the airline.
Delta is sponsoring the CCP while US service members may one day have to fight this outrageous regime that bullies all its neighboors.
Wow
Whoop-de-do.
The US government is very happy to lick the taint of Saudi Arabia for whatever reason (even though almost all of the 9/11 hijackers (plus Osama bin Laden himself) were Saudi (not Iranian, not Afghani, not Iraqi).
Saudi Arabia is a very large terrorist threat, and we just keep on enabling them.
The Republic of China is a great nation, along with EVA and Starlux.
He was also the boss of CSN prior to 2008, which made him the second CEO at CSN to be taken into custody.
That would never happen in the US!
(I mean the investigation, not the corruption.)
BTW，he was also the head of China Southern before CPP moved him to China eastern.
All it means is he p*ssed off the wrong person or persons in the ruling class.
Indeed.
I do wish more articles would start with this as the basis for CCP "corruption" allegations.
So many writers seem to be taken in by the PR.
So unlucky
Who dont corrupt in China?
Was someone padding their own pockets with questionable parts sourcing or to get the planes serviced abroad? The bigger money would be in plane purchases. Maybe the fleet purchase decisions are why it’s playing out like this.
It's not unheard of. The specs for the Titanic called for rivets of a certain tensile strength. The purchasing manager's records show that he ordered quantities of lower strength rivets. It is clear from the records that something was wrong. And, we know that the inferior rivets failed. What we don't know is the why . . . whether it was thoughtlessness or corruption.