BEIJING — Seeking to move beyond a scandal that marred its Olympic preparations, Beijing replaced a disgraced vice mayor Wednesday with another senior official to oversee construction projects for the 2008 Games.
The appointment of Ji Lin, also a vice mayor, to head the Olympic construction office comes just three days after Liu Zhihua was abruptly cashiered on unspecified corruption charges.
Ji’s appointment was announced quietly, by a statement on the Web site of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee. The release said Ji toured Olympic venues Wednesday morning in the company of the city’s Communist Party secretary and mayor.
“Construction on Beijing’s key projects and Olympic venues are inspiring,” the release quoted the party secretary, Liu Qi, who also heads the Olympic organizing committee, as saying.
The tour — and Ji’s rapid appointment — seemed intended to project confidence in the wake of potentially the most embarrassing scandal to hit Beijing’s Olympic preparations. Chinese leaders have staked the country’s prestige on staging a problem-free Olympics, despite widespread official graft in China.
Beijing is spending 40 billion dollars on the construction of venues, new infrastructure and other projects. Many of those projects fall under the purview of the office that Liu Zhihua headed.
The reasons for Liu’s downfall have not been publicized. Announcement of his dismissal by official media accused him of leading a degenerate lifestyle.
The Beijing Olympic organizing committee, BOCOG, has also sought to distance itself from Liu, pointing out that he held no positions inside the organizing committee.
Liu’s replacement, Ji, 44, has spent his working career in Beijing’s party apparatus. He became a vice mayor in 2004 and has held a senior post in the city’s top law-enforcement body.
