Exclusive: Former Second-Level Executive at Certain Telecom Operator Greedily Embezzled Large Sums, Later Made into a Cautionary Tale, Utterly Disgraced!

Over the past few years, many officials from the three major telecom operators have been involved in scandals, with several caught involving large sums of money. Among them, Zhang Qinggui, the former Deputy General Manager of China Unicom Asset Operation Company, is a typical example.

This is a mid-level executive who was found to have accepted bribes totaling over ten million yuan—more than many senior executives of telecom groups. For comparison, former China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing was caught accepting bribes of 3.76 million yuan. Compared to him, how ungrateful was Zhang Qinggui!

Speaking of which, Zhang Qinggui was promoted quite early. Starting as a clerk at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Telecommunications Bureau, he was promoted to deputy level before Unicom’s restructuring, serving as Deputy General Manager of the Group’s Network Business Department. He also held key positions such as Deputy General Manager of Hubei Unicom and Vice President of Unicom Cloud Data. His future seemed bright.

But who would have thought that he started accepting bribes as early as when he was a clerk at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, continuing until 2021—over twenty years of taking money.

Court investigations revealed that he had accepted bribes totaling more than 17.87 million yuan, of which 1.95 million yuan was not actually received.

After his arrest, he was specifically featured in the “Warning Record of Zhang Qinggui’s Illegal Crimes,” which damaged his reputation in the industry. In a video, he admitted that a company once placed a black briefcase filled with cash in front of him during a project bidding. Zhang Qinggui himself said that he knew what was inside the bag but couldn’t resist the temptation.

His frankness, even about old cases from decades ago, should have allowed for leniency, but ultimately, because of the large amount involved, he was sentenced to eleven years and six months. Without special circumstances, he is now in his sixties.

Ultimately, Zhang Qinggui’s tragedy was not in his honesty but in his greed. If he had known what was to come, would he have had the courage to push the black bag away? Unfortunately, life has no “what ifs.”