Former chairman of China's chipmaking champion gets suspended death sentence in corruption and embezzlement case

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The former billionaire chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup, Zhao Weiguo, has been handed a suspended death sentence after being found guilty of corruption and embezzlement. Tsinghua Unigroup, founded in 1988, was once the darling of Chinese chip manufacturing and the owner of numerous Chinese semiconductor outfits, notably YMTC and Unisoc, but was plagued by corruption allegations and investigations.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported the sentence passed down by the Intermediate People’s Court in the northeastern city of Jilin. According to the report, Zhao was sentenced to death, suspended for two years. The punishment in such cases is normally commuted to life imprisonment if he doesn't commit any further crimes during the suspension period.

Once thought to be worth nearly $2.8 billion, Zhao was accused of corruption and embezzlement by China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The Commission alleged that Zhao, "as a manager of a state-owned enterprise, was blinded by greed, acted recklessly, betrayed his duties and mission, misused public resources for personal gain, turned public property into private property, and regarded the state-owned enterprises he managed as private territory." He was also accused of deliberately seizing state-owned assets, illegally giving profitable business to relatives and friends, purchasing goods from said businesses at inflated prices, and more.

TOPICS

Stephen is Tom's Hardware's News Editor with almost a decade of industry experience covering technology, having worked at TechRadar, iMore, and even Apple over the years. He has covered the world of consumer tech from nearly every angle, including supply chain rumors, patents, and litigation, and more. When he's not at work, he loves reading about history and playing video games.

4 Comments Comment from the forums

das_stig

One thing for Chinese justice, they don't mess around with handing out sentences, imagine living a life with a death sentence hanging over your head, that state can impose at will. We need a few of these judges in the UK court system, crime levels will plummet if you think you'll get 10 years for nicking a few cans of lager from the local Tesco and then spend that time in a supermax on the Falkland Islands?
Reply
KyaraM

das_stig said:
One thing for Chinese justice, they don't mess around with handing out sentences, imagine living a life with a death sentence hanging over your head, that state can impose at will. We need a few of these judges in the UK court system, crime levels will plummet if you think you'll get 10 years for nicking a few cans of lager from the local Tesco and then spend that time in a supermax on the Falkland Islands?
They literally hanged or mutilated people for stealing food in the past. You got one guess how much that deterred people... also, the US has the death sentence, yet murder still happens.

Seriously, if you don't combat the causes, harder sentences mean jack. They are unproductive.
Reply
dalek1234

das_stig said:
One thing for Chinese justice, they don't mess around ,,,
The thing is, this is a communist dictatorship. This guys could have done nothing wrong, but the state wanted him out of the picture, so they made up these charges. This sort of thing happens all the time over there. Many private individuals who became too powerful, have disappeared. Than again, maybe he is guilty. There is just no way of knowing.
Reply
nameless0ne

das_stig said:
One thing for Chinese justice, they don't mess around with handing out sentences, imagine living a life with a death sentence hanging over your head, that state can impose at will. We need a few of these judges in the UK court system, crime levels will plummet if you think you'll get 10 years for nicking a few cans of lager from the local Tesco and then spend that time in a supermax on the Falkland Islands?
The problem is - it seems that all the CCP elite are horribly corrupt. They just turn a blind eye to the ones that are loyal. But that can change in a blink of an eye if they run afoul of the higher-ups. China blacklists foreign media that reports on local officials whose family members suddenly come in fortune from state corps. And the laundry list of accusations shows that this did not happen overnight. But it might just been too egregious to ignore.
Reply