UPDATE 1-China's corruption watchdog probing emergency management minister

China's minister of emergency management, Wang Xiangxi, is being investigated for ‌suspected "serious violations of discipline and law," a common euphemism for corruption, the anti-graft watchdog said ⁠on Saturday as a purge of senior officials continues.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection did not provide details in its statement on Wang, a ​Communist Party secretary. It is relatively rare for a sitting minister ‍to undergo investigation. In President Xi Jinping’s years-long corruption purge, the defence ministry announced last week it was investigating the nation's top general, Zhang Youxia, who is second ⁠only ‌to Xi ⁠in the military leadership.

Xi said this month that anti-corruption is a battle China must not ‍lose, following a record 65 probes into high-ranking officials last year, while ​scrutiny has expanded to former leaders of universities and state-owned enterprises. Wang, ⁠63, took office in July 2022, after serving as chairman of state-owned power ⁠generator National Energy Investment Corp.

He appeared on Tuesday, speaking at a regular internal meeting where cadres engage in self-criticism, according to ⁠an official release from the Ministry of Emergency Management. The corruption watchdog announced an ⁠investigation into ‌Sun Shaocheng, the former Party secretary of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to state-owned media China ⁠Daily.