Science official faces probe in China amid widespread crackdown on corruption

China placed a senior official of the country's Association for Science and Technology under investigation for suspected graft, state media Xinhua reported Sunday. Xinhua said Chen Gang, executive secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology, was being probed by the ruling Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog on suspicion of breaking the law and violating discipline. It gave no other details and it was not possible to reach Chen for comment.

CAST is China's largest non-government association of technological and scientific professionals. Chen served as deputy mayor of Beijing between 2007 and 2017. President Xi Jinping has waged a wider war against corruption since he came to power six years ago.