Plenum didn’t decide on Zhou graft case ‘as he is no longer state leader’
The Communist Party broke its silence yesterday on the case of Zhou Yongkang, saying there was no decision on his fate at its annual elite gathering because he was no longer a state leader.
The Communist Party broke its silence yesterday on the case of former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, saying there was no decision on his fate at its annual elite gathering because he was no longer a state leader.
But details of the investigation would be released, an official said.
The party's anti-graft watchdog announced three months ago that it was investigating Zhou - making him the first serving or former member of the elite Politburo Standing Committee to be probed - but there has been no word since on progress in the case. State media, including the People's Daily news portal, had speculated the party would expel Zhou at its plenum last week.
Jiang Wei, head of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Judicial Reform, the body overseeing wide-ranging changes to the legal system, said: "Zhou ... no longer serves as a central leadership official. Therefore, there is no decision related to his case at the fourth plenum."
Both Jiang and Guo said the investigation and handling of Zhou's case showed the party's determination to fight corruption. Jiang would not say why military prosecutors gave an update on the bribery case against Xu Caihou , a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.