1st LD-Writethru: China Focus: Ling Jihua to face trial in Tianjin

Former deputy head of China's national political advisory body Ling Jihua has been charged with taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on Friday.

The SPP said that, following the investigation, it designated the No. 1 branch of Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate to exercise jurisdiction over the case.

The No. 1 branch of Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate has filed a lawsuit for Ling's case to the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin in recent days, the SPP said in a statement.

Ling was vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, before an announcement at the end of 2014 that he was under investigation.

"Prosecutors informed defendant Ling Jihua about his litigation rights in accordance with law, questioned Ling and heard representations from Ling's lawyer," said the the SPP statement.

The indictment of the No. 1 branch of the Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate accused Ling of seeking benefits for others and asking for and illegally accepting a huge amount of property, taking advantage of his posts as deputy head and head of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee.

Ling's offense in illegally obtaining state secrets is serious, he also committed extremely serious offense in abusing his power and causing major losses to public property and the interests of the country and its people, according to the indictment.

It said he should be held criminally responsible for accepting bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power. Endi