It appears that losing faction in
the protracted power struggle in China has been torn out from top to
bottom. I am sure that this faction is
also guilty of generating provocative military activities over the past year as
they came under attack. This has so far
wisely been ignored.
The most serious alleged crimes
engaged in by this faction are the deliberate diversion of so called criminals
into the organ harvesting business. Where
this true, and it became publically understood and accepted, it would represent
the greatest loss of face imaginable for the regime.
That alone explains the complete
loss of influence of this particular faction.
Otherwise, what they are been charged with can be described as petty
crime at this level were all are as guilty.
In the meantime, it is in fact
timely that cadre greed was reined in sharply.
As we know, when it comes to blind greed, there is literally no limit or
sense and must be ended by nasty crashes or the firing squad.
China
puts former security chief under house arrest - sources
By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters)
- China has put Zhou Yongkang, one of the most powerful politicians of the last
decade, under virtual house arrest while the ruling Communist Party
investigates accusations of corruption against him, several sources said on
Wednesday.
Zhou is the most
senior official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the Communists came to
power in 1949. He was the domestic security tsar and a member of the party's
Politburo Standing Committee - the pinnacle of power in the country - when he
retired last year.
Chinese President
Xi Jinping ordered a special task force formed in late November or early
December to look into several accusations brought against Zhou by political
rivals, sources with ties to the leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity
to avoid repercussions for discussing secretive elite politics.
"Zhou
Yongkang's freedom has been restricted. His movements have been
monitored," one source said, adding that he cannot leave his Beijing home
or receive guests without prior approval.
Zhou is being
investigated for violating party discipline, official jargon for corruption,
the sources said. They did not say what the specific allegations were.
Xi was installed
as head of the party just over a year ago, and as president in March, and the
investigation illustrates his growing power and confidence that he can manage
any rift that may ensue.
In ordering the
investigation, Xi has broken with an unwritten understanding that members of
the Standing Committee will not be investigated after retirement.
But Xi has yet to
decide whether Zhou would be publicly prosecuted, pending completion of the
internal probe, the sources said. Xi has declared war on corruption, vowing to
go after powerful "tigers" like Zhou as well as lowly
"flies".
"Xi has
pulled out all the tiger's teeth," a second source said, referring to the
downfall of Zhou's men, including Jiang Jiemin, who was the top regulator of
state-owned enterprises for just five months until September when state media
said he was put under investigation for "serious discipline
violations".
Jiang was
previously chairman of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) - Zhou
Yongkang's power base - as well as one of its subsidiaries, oil-and-gas
behemoth PetroChina <0857 .hk=""> <601857 .ss="">. Zhou served as CNPC's
general manager from 1996-1998, having risen through the ranks.
"Zhou
Yongkang is a toothless tiger and tantamount to a dead tiger. The question is:
will Xi skin the tiger?" the source said, referring to a trial.
Political analysts
say such an indictment and a trial would instill fear in other retired leaders
and the party's 80 million members, worsening infighting among rival political
factions.
Jonathan Fenby,
director of China research at analyst group Trusted Sources, said any form of
public trial of Zhou would be "potential for embarrassment ... given his
long tenure at the top".
The Chinese
government has neither confirmed nor denied Chinese-language media reports in
Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States that Zhou has been arrested on charges
of corruption and other crimes.
Zhou and his
family could not be reached for comment. It is not clear if they have lawyers.
The cabinet
spokesman's office, which doubles as the party's public affairs office, did not
respond to a request for comment.
LINKED TO BO XILAI
Zhou was a patron
of the once high-flying politician Bo Xilai, who was jailed for life in
September for corruption and abuse of power - the worst political scandal since
the 1976 downfall of the Gang of Four at the end of the Cultural Revolution.
"Xi Jinping
and (Premier) Li Keqiang hate Zhou Yongkang as he was the only standing
committee member who opposed ousting Bo Xilai. They are gunning for Zhou,"
said a source who has ties to the military.
Bo's career was
stopped short last year by the attempted defection of his estranged police
chief who implicated Bo's wife in the murder of a British businessman over a
business dispute. Bo's wife and his former police chief have been convicted and
jailed.
"Zhou's men
have been sidelined," another source said.
"The Central
Commission of Political Science and Law has been cleansed of Zhou's men,"
the source said, referring to the powerful party body once headed by Zhou that
oversees the police force, the civilian intelligence apparatus, judges, prosecutors
and paramilitary police.
The movements of
Zhou's eldest son, Zhou Bin, have also been restricted while he helps with the
corruption investigation that has implicated Jiang, the regulator of
state-owned enterprises.
The elder Zhou
retired as domestic security tsar and from the standing committee during a
sweeping leadership reshuffle last year. During his five-year watch, government
spending on domestic security exceeded the defence budget.
He was last seen
at an alumni celebration at the China University of Petroleum on October 1.
He was also among
party leaders who offered condolences or sent flowers to the family of a
respected educator who died last month, state media reported on November 26.
Hong Kong's South
China Morning Post newspaper reported in late August that the leadership had
agreed to open a corruption investigation into Zhou.
But sources with
ties to the leadership told Reuters at the time that Zhou was merely helping
authorities with the investigation into state energy companies and, contrary to
media reports, was not the target then.
That changed after
Xi ruled that no one was above the law.
Zhao Hongzhu, one
of the party's top anti-corruption officials, declared in October that anyone
who violated party discipline or broke the law would be punished
"regardless of who it involved, how much power he has or how high his
position is". (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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