China jails former internet regulator over graft

A Chinese court on Tuesday jailed the former chief internet regulator, Lu Wei, for 14 years, having found the once influential official guilty of taking bribes worth almost $5 million.

Lu, one of numerous senior officials caught up in President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-graft campaign, had already been expelled from the ruling Communist Party, which tightly controls the courts.

At the height of his influence, Lu, a colorful and often brash official by Chinese standards, was seen as emblematic of pervasive internet controls, although his downfall has not brought a reversal of those policies.

The court, in the eastern city of Ningbo, said in a statement that Lu had accepted the verdict and would not appeal.

Lu, 59, pleaded guilty in October after prosecutors had accused him of abusing his power in various government posts over 15 years, including as the head of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

Between 2002 and 2017, he received illicit assets from government units or individuals worth more than 32 million yuan ($4.77 million), the court said in the statement.

He had "shown repentance" and "actively returned" most of the money and property, it added.