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Zhou Yongkang
China

Muted reaction in mainland media to Zhou Yongkang's arrest

State media plays down news about case of ex-security tsar while comments on biggest internet portals are heavily censored

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Why you can trust SCMP
Stephen Chenin Beijing
Tangled web of corruption
Tangled web of corruption
State-run and commercial newspapers reported Zhou Yongkang's arrest and prosecution across the mainland yesterday, although they differed in how prominently they carried the news.

While central government newspapers such as the People's Daily and PLA Daily put items about President Xi Jinping above Zhou, influential local newspapers such as the Southern Metropolis News in Guangzhou made his case the main headline.

But all the papers ran identical content, using the official announcement by Xinhua. At the Beijing headquarters of the China National Petroleum Corporation, where Zhou built up his wealth and power, senior party members were gathered and briefed on the news on Friday.

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They "unanimously" supported the central committee's decision with "firm resolution", according to a statement published on its website.

Online, people focused their comments on some of the more colourful aspects of the allegations, including that Zhou kept mistresses.

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On Kdnet.net one of the largest internet forums devoted to political issues, one commentator asked authorities to release the names of the women involved. Others wondered whether a foreign country was involved in Zhou's alleged leaking of state secrets.
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