New | Two senior Chinese officials suspected of corruption unwell, say sources
Two former senior officials subject to graft probes are ill and may not be able to stand trial, sources with ties to the leadership say, possibly sparing the Communist Party of having more of its secrets exposed in public.
Two sources with ties to the leadership said separately Ling Jihua, 59, an ex-top aide to President Xi Jinping's predecessor Hu Jintao, had apparently suffered a nervous breakdown, while Guo Boxiong, a former top general, was gravely ill with cancer.
The party announced an investigation into Ling in December. He was demoted in September 2012 from a ministerial-level job months after his son was killed in a deadly crash involving a luxury sports car.
"The pressure on Ling has been too great. He has never recovered from losing his son," one source said on condition of anonymity.
"He is blaming the rest of his family for his downfall."
Ling's wife and an older brother have also been detained by authorities for questioning over corruption allegations.
"Ling Jihua repeatedly shouted the names of his parents for no reason," a second source said.
"Psychiatrists have been brought in to determine if he is faking it," the source said, adding that the leadership was mulling whether to put him on trial.
The government has declined to comment on whether there is an investigation into Guo, 73, a former vice-chairman of the decision-making Central Military Commission, but sources have said an investigation had begun, although not a formal one.
His son, Major General Guo Zhenggang, 45, was put under corruption investigation in early March.
The elder Guo's case follows that of Xu Caihou, also a commission vice-chairman at the same time as Guo, who died of bladder cancer in March.
The government said in October that Xu had confessed to taking "massive" bribes in exchange for help in promotions.
"The party is in a quandary because Xu Caihou died of cancer. If Guo is charged and then also dies, people will get suspicious and it will look very bad for the military," the first source said.
"If both Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou died of cancer, it would fuel speculation that the government poisoned them," the source added.
"If both [former] vice-chairmen were corrupt, it would ruin the image of the People's Liberation Army."
