China arrests former security chief Zhou Yongkang

Yahoo – AFP, Felicia Sonmez, 5 Dec 2014

Zhou Yongkang, pictured giving a speech in Beijing on May 18, 2012, has been
 expelled from the Communist Party and arrested, the state-run Xinhua news
agency reports (AFP Photo)

China's powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been arrested and put under a judicial probe after being expelled from the Communist Party, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported early Saturday.

Zhou -- who retired from China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in 2012 -- "leaked the party's and the country's secrets," Xinhua said, adding that the once-influential official was found to have "accepted a large amount of money and properties personally and through his family".

The announcement makes Zhou the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four -- a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong -- were put on trial in 1980.

An official's dismissal from the party paves the way for a criminal prosecution which usually leads to guilty verdict at a trial, followed by a prison sentence.

Zhou became ensnared in President Xi Jinping's much-publicised anti-corruption drive in July when he was put under investigation for "serious disciplinary violation".

Xinhua said the decision to expel Zhou was made at a Politburo meeting on Friday, indicating that the move was approved by the party's innermost circle of leaders, including Xi.

'Huge profits'

Communist Party authorities have been waging an anti-graft campaign since Xi ascended to the leadership two years ago.

The campaign has netted high-level "tigers" as well as low-level "flies" -- although critics say the Communist Party has failed to introduce systemic reforms to prevent graft, such as public disclosure of assets.

According to the Xinhua report, which cited a Politburo statement, Zhou "abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets".

In unusually frank language, the official news agency also said that Zhou was found to have "committed adultery with a number of women and traded his power for sex and money".

"What Zhou did completely deviated from the Party's nature and mission, and seriously violated Party discipline," Xinhua reported, citing the Politburo statement.

"His behaviors badly undermined the reputation of the Party, significantly damaged the cause of the Party and the people, and have yielded serious consequences," it added.

Adultery is not illegal in China, but the Communist Party has for years been embarrassed by reports of its cadres keeping multiple mistresses.

Authorities said in June that officials guilty of affairs "could be removed from their posts, or stripped of party membership".

Zhou's expulsion from the party had been rumoured for months, and a number of officials with close ties to the former security czar have recently been ousted from the party.

They include Ji Wenlin, Yu Gang and Tan Hong, all former secretaries to Zhou, according to overseas Chinese reports.

In addition to Zhou, Xi's anti-corruption campaign has also led to the ousting of Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission.

Xu, who was a Politburo member until 2012, in July became the first of the body's former members to fall in the current crackdown on graft, which follows the ascension of Xi to power as the head of the party.

Even as Xi has pledged to battle corruption, a recent Transparency International report suggested that corruption has actually worsened in China.

The report, released by the Berlin-based group on Wednesday, showed China dropping four points from its previous ranking to 36, the same as Rwanda, Malawi and Angola.

Despite the anti-graft crackdown, "too many corruption cases take place behind closed doors and the manner in which people are prosecuted needs greater transparency," the group said.

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