China investigates ex-party bigwig

Zhou, once security chief, subject of corruption probe

China’s Communist Party says it has launched an investigation into the former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang, who was once among the country’s most feared leaders, regarding serious violations of party discipline.
China’s Communist Party says it has launched an investigation into the former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang, who was once among the country’s most feared leaders, regarding serious violations of party discipline.

HONG KONG -- President Xi Jinping's campaign against corruption among the Chinese elite took public aim Tuesday at its biggest target so far, when the Communist Party announced an investigation of Zhou Yongkang, the former head of domestic security.

Zhou, who retired from the Politburo Standing Committee in 2012, accumulated vast power while in office, and his family became enormously wealthy. Now, according to the terse announcement by the party's anti-corruption agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, he is being investigated "on suspicion of grave violations of discipline."

The news was reported almost immediately on Chinese state media. The reports gave no details about the allegations, but they pointedly omitted the word "comrade" in referring to Zhou, a sign that an official has been severed from the party and faces punishment.

Zhou is the first member, either sitting or retired, of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party's inner ring of power, to face an inquest by the commission.

Xi has been saying since he became the country's senior leader at a party congress in November 2012 that his drive to stem corruption, and put his stamp on the party, would take down both "flies and tigers" -- both junior and high-ranking officials. It has been widely suspected that Zhou was in the party's sights, especially after he was detained late last year, but the government did not say so publicly until Tuesday, breaking months of censorship and official silence on the matter.

In an online commentary Tuesday, the People's Daily, the party's main newspaper, portrayed Zhou's downfall as a lesson.

"Zhou Yongkang was a big tiger, and if even he can be brought down, any corrupt elements nursing delusions will understand: If they stretch out their hands, they will get caught," said the commentary. "This is also a warning to party members and officials that they must properly exercise the power in their hands."

Deng Yuwen, formerly an editor with The Study Times, a weekly paper issued by the Central Party School in Beijing, described Xi's decision to take down Zhou as a bid to cement his authority.

Although the official announcement about Zhou did not mention criminal charges, the opening of a party investigation greatly increases the chances that Zhou will be indicted, tried and sentenced to prison, according to Deng, who is now a freelance commentator on Chinese politics.

"If Xi Jinping doesn't punish this dead tiger, then he himself would become a paper tiger," he said. "Zhou Yongkang signifies how far Xi will go to establish his authority, and it's a warning to others not to stand in his way."

Until now the anti-corruption campaign's biggest target had been Xu Caihou, a retired military commander. The party announced in late June that Xu, a former member of the Politburo -- a step below the Standing Committee -- was under investigation for taking bribes, directly or through his family.

The case against Zhou may center on the fortunes amassed by his family, often in sectors of the economy that were once under his sway. An investigation by The New York Times showed that Zhou's son, a sister-in-law and his son's mother-in-law held traceable assets worth about $160 million; much of that wealth is concentrated in the oil and gas industries, where Zhou was in a position to shape decisions and promotions.

That estimate was based on publicly available records and a limited assessment of their companies' value. It does not include real estate or overseas assets, which are more difficult to identify and value.

Xi and his colleagues have now broken an unspoken compact among China's elite that leaders who ascended to the summit of power -- the Politburo Standing Committee -- would be immune from formal investigations, even in retirement.

Zhou, who is 71, retired at the same party congress that elevated Xi, but he remained a potentially dangerous adversary, with ties to other senior retired figures and to officials who rose under him. Earlier graft investigations have shaken his bases of influence -- in Sichuan province in China's southwest; in the nation's biggest oil and gas conglomerate, the China National Petroleum Corp.; and in the country's police and civilian intelligence services.

People close to senior officials have said that the party leadership had decided late last year to pursue Zhou, but there was no public confirmation until now. The news coincided with an announcement that the party's Central Committee, with a membership of over 200 senior officials, would meet in October and that "promoting governing the country according to law and other major issues" would be on the agenda.

A Section on 07/30/2014

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