Anti- Graft investigation ordered against a sitting Minister in China

China has ordered anti-graft investigation against a sitting minister and taken a stance radically different to past probes when ministers of the

previous government were targeted. The minister under the microscope is Ma Jian, Vice Minister of State Security, who is believed to have headed the government's counter espionage operation. Ma is under investigation for suspected serious violation of disciplines and laws, according to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. 

The CCDI disclosed no other details on Friday. "It is unclear what triggered the investigation of Ma, who is said to have headed China's counter-espionage programs," the official Xinhua news agency said. But the public announcement of the decision indicated that Ma has been sacked from his job and he is unlikely to escape punishment after the forthcoming court trail. The move is part of a countrywide campaign launched by Chinese president Xi Jinping who has given a call to target high-ranking "tigers" as well as lowly "flies" among corrupt officials. 

The campaign has taken down a slew of high-ranking officials, including former domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang. In another rare move, Chinese government has initiated parleys with the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on plans to jointly probe corrupt officials, who indulge in money laundering and transfer funds from one country to another. Officials of the two countries held meetings over two days on issues like the application of law and the sharing of evidence, the Beijing Times reported. 

 Chinese participants included representatives from the Supreme People's prosecution office, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice. China is trying to persuade the US to repatriate 680 Chinese fugitives suspected of economic crimes as part of its transnational "Fox Hunt" operation launched in July, the ministry said.