Zhou Yongkang corruption probe likely to be ‘one-off’
While inquiry into ex-security tsar has broken agreement protecting top officials, further moves against senior leaders are unlikely, say analysts
The corruption probe into former public security tsar Zhou Yongkang will not lead to investigations of other top party leaders, even though it has broken a long-standing agreement protecting the most powerful officials from scrutiny, political analysts said.
The move against Zhou - one of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee under former president Hu Jintao - was endorsed after intense discussion during the party's key annual meeting at Beidaihe in Hebei.
If we apply the same criteria, even more senior officials should be investigated. But I don't believe the authorities are willing or able to launch another investigation of this scale
The investigation of Zhou, first reported by the South China Morning Post yesterday, would represent the first time a current or former member of the Politburo's supreme Standing Committee has been probed for economic crimes.
"If we apply the same criteria, even more senior officials should be investigated," said Li Xigen, an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong.
"But I don't believe the authorities are willing or able to launch another investigation of this scale."
Other analysts agreed Zhou's case was a one-off. They said Zhou was being probed because he had become politically vulnerable and the signs of corruption were too strong to ignore.