China: A Railway Chief's Sentence and the Difficult Task of Reform

The career of former Chinese Railway Minister Liu Zhijun illustrates China's struggle to implement long-term institutional reform amid deeply entrenched bureaucratic interests. Liu received a suspended death sentence June 8 following his conviction for corruption, bribery and other abuses of power committed between 1986 and 2011, the year he was removed from office. His sentencing comes after the March 2013 dissolution of the Ministry of Railways, which was part of a broader central government effort to consolidate control over key industries and ministries. This consolidation will prove far more challenging than the mere removal of one official.