China’s ex-Internet watchdog chief pleads guilty to taking bribes

Beijing, Oct 19 (IANS) A former head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, responsible for Internet censorship in the country, pleaded guilty on Friday to receiving $32 million yuan ($4.6 million) in bribes, the state-owned Global Times newspaper reported.

Lu Wei, appearing before the Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo in eastern China's Zhejiang province, admitted to receiving bribes from third parties, the report said.

Lu, 58, is awaiting the court's verdict, the date for which is yet to be known.

He accepted bribes not only during his four-year tenure as head of the Cyberspace Administration, but also when he held senior positions in the state-owned Xinhua agency, the municipality of Beijing and the propaganda department of the Communist party, according to the public prosecutor's office in July.

Lu exercised an important role as head of the Cyberspace Administration, involved in censorship of Internet content for its nearly 750 million users.

Webpages such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram have been blocked in China for years, along with several foreign media entities.

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