African ivory scandal: Is a corruption target trying to frame Xi Jinping?

PLEASE NOTE:  THIS ALLEGATION IS BASED ON ONE SOURCE AND NEEDS CONFIRMATION.

On Nov. 6, 2014, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) issued a report revealing that Chinese officials had used their Navy’s ships, their diplomatic privileges and private planes carrying the nation’s top politicians to smuggle ivory. This report has attracted a lot of media attention, including speculation that even the plane carrying Chinese President Xi Jinping had been used during his visit to Africa in 2013.

Boxun has learned from a reliable source that Navy ships and private planes carrying Politburo Standing Committee members have indeed been used to smuggle ivory, but not the plane ferrying Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Boxun’s source revealed to a Hong Kong-based reporter that Ling Jihua, (the official formerly in charge of obtaining private planes for foreign visits by Politburo Standing Committee members) his underlings and others collaborated with ivory poaching groups supported by Zhou Shengxian, China’s minister of environmental protection. Though the source didn’t reveal which Standing Committee members private planes were used, it’s not difficult to find out since only a limited number of state leaders have visited Africa.

The source alleges that Li Jihua and his supporters disclosed information about the practice to Western media and environmental groups in an attempt to smear Xi Jinping, and timed its release to embarrass him during the recent APEC meeting in Beijing.

Boxun previously reported in November 2013 that Zhou Shengxian lifted the ban on the import of ivory and rhinoceros horns into China by changing the policy from complete prohibition to import quotas. China is the world’s biggest importer of smuggled African elephant tusks, according to the EIA report.

Ling Jihua was a powerful official, but he and members of his family are under investigation for corruption, an initiative started by President Xi Jinping. Zhou Shengxian is one of Ling Jihua’s diehard partisans.