China dismisses top workplace safety official in wake of Tianjin port blasts
Mike Ouellette
The former director of China's State Administration of Work Safety is suspected of "severely violating" state laws
BEIJING—State media say China’s top official on work safety has been fired and is a suspect in a corruption investigation.
The fall of Yang Dongliang, 61, has coincided with one of the worst industrial accidents in China in years. Fires and explosions at a hazardous material warehouse in the eastern port city of Tianjin on Aug. 12 has killed 139 people and left 34 missing.
Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday that Yang, formerly the director of the State Administration of Work Safety, is suspected of “severely violating” party discipline and state laws, which typically means corruption.
Yang’s fall is unlikely to be linked to the blasts, although he had previously worked for 18 years in Tianjin in state industry and local government, rising to executive vice mayor.
