Top China spy chief under investigation for corruption

Beijing

CHINA is investigating one of its top spy chiefs for corruption, the ruling Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog said on Friday, signalling that the boldest crackdown on corruption in decades has spilled over into its powerful intelligence apparatus.

Ma Jian, a vice-minister at China's Ministry of State Security, is the most senior security official to be investigated since former domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang was ensnared in a graft scandal last July.

The investigation into Mr Ma could lead to a shake-up in China's powerful state security ministry, a KGB-like operation that spies on its citizens and foreigners dom…