Zhou Ruijin, voice of Deng Xiaoping reforms, returns to support Xi's corruption crackdown
Veteran writer who helped build support for opening up two decades ago returns ahead of plenum to bolster crackdown on corruption
One of the mainland's best-known official opinion writers has burst back into commentary after years of silence to give lengthy praise to President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.
Zhou was a household name writing as "Huang Fuping" in the early 1990s and was well known for his support of Deng Xiaoping's reform drive more than two decades ago. Other writers also assisted Zhou with commentaries under the byline.
The commentary has drawn much attention not only because it is Zhou's first since his retirement but also because it has come at a sensitive time, with less than two weeks until the Communist Party's fourth plenum.
In the article, Zhou argued that Xi's tough crackdown on corrupt officials had succeeded in dealing a heavy blow to the country's entrenched interest groups that formed during the mainland's period of breakneck economic growth.
The commentary said Xi's corruption drive was the country's largest and longest since 1978, but it could still face a backlash if the authorities did not meet mounting public hopes of bringing down more "tigers", Xi's term for senior officials.
It also warned that those who appeared to support such campaigns could have their own "hidden agendas" for doing so.