Zhou Yongkang linked to four oil execs under investigation

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-08-28

Zhou Yongkang in Beijing last July, when he was still a member
of the Politburo Standing Committee. (Photo/Xinhua)

Four senior executives from China's oil industry recently placed under investigation for corruption are all linked to retired political heavyweight Zhou Yongkang, reports Boxun, a citizen journalism website offering an alternative source of news on China but whose sources are not always verifiable.

On Monday, state media reported that Wang Yongchun, vice-president of state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation, has been put under a formal investigation for "severe breaches" of Communist Party discipline.

This announcement was followed by the resignation of three top managers, identified as Li Hualin, chairman of CNPC subsidiary Kunlun Energy, Ran Xinquan, CNPC subsidiary PetroChina's vice president and manager of its largest oilfield, and Wang Daofu, chief geologist for PetroChina. The three managers are said to be under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations," a code word for graft.

All four executives are said to be linked to Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision-making body, and the former chief of the Central Political and Legislative Committee, which oversaw China's security forces and law enforcement institutions. Zhou was also formerly the general manager of CNPC and the Minister of Land and Resources. A WikiLeaks cable from 2009 revealed that the US government believes he heads a group of individuals who control the interests of China's lucrative oil industry.

Rumors related to the downfall of the 70-year-old Zhou have been spiraling on the internet since his close political ally, disgraced former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai, was stood down last March. Bo's five-day corruption trial for taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power ended on Monday, with a likely guilty verdict expected in the coming weeks. Foreign media have recently ramped up speculation that Zhou could be the next big name to fall as part of president Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

According to a Boxun source, one of the first places Zhou visited after stepping down from the Politburo Standing Committee last November was the CNPC's Daqing oilfield. The source claims that the officials currently being investigated transferred as much as 100 billion yuan (US$16.3 billion) of assets to Zhou and his son Zhou Bin, who has allegedly fled to the United States to avoid disciplinary authorities. The source also claims that Bin's in-laws, who have been living in Los Angeles for the past 10 years, have made significant investments in oil fields in Russia and South America through US intermediaries.

Though it remains unclear whether Zhou has been placed under watch by China's disciplinary authorities, what is clear is that his wings are being clipped, the source said.

References:

Zhou Yongkang　　周永康

Wang Yongchun　　王永春

Li Hualin　　李華林

Ran Xinquan　　冉新權

Wang Daofu　　王道富

Bo Xilai　　薄熙來

Xi Jinping　　習近平

Zhou Bin　　周斌

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Zhou Yongkang the next corrupt ex-official to fall: HK media

Former PetroChina chairman detained for corruption: Boxun