https://www.scmp.com/rss/54639/feed Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, became the highest-ranking Party official to fall under corruption investigation on July 29, 2014 when state media announced a probe into his "serious discipline violations". Born in 1942, Zhou was secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the party’s Central Committee from 2007 to 2012. Other positions he held include vice minister of the petroleum industry... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Fu Zhenghua, once one of China’s most powerful police chiefs, will face court accused of taking bribes and aiding criminals, according to prosecutors. Fu, 67, who made a name for himself with a high-profile bust at Beijing’s exclusive Passion nightclub in 2010 just months after taking over as the capital’s police chief, is expected to be charged officially in Changchun, in the northeastern province of Jilin. “As a judicial staff member, Fu Zhenghua deliberately sheltered criminal suspects from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184866/former-chinese-police-boss-fu-zhenghua-face-court-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184866/former-chinese-police-boss-fu-zhenghua-face-court-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jul 2022 09:00:24 +0000 The Communist Party has expelled former Shanghai police chief Gong Daoan from its ranks setting the stage for him to stand trial, China’s top anti-corruption agency announced on Wednesday. Gong, who was also formerly a vice-mayor, was kicked out of the Communist Party and prosecutors have taken over his case to prepare for trial, said the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. “Gong, having abandoned his ideals and convictions, had attempted to build cliques within the Party, which caused... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3121379/former-shanghai-police-chief-gong-daoan-expelled-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3121379/former-shanghai-police-chief-gong-daoan-expelled-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Feb 2021 23:00:20 +0000 The daughter-in-law of China’s disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang has appealed publicly to President Xi Jinping for leniency and to be allowed to return to the United States. Huang Wan, who migrated to the US when she was 15, also faces eviction from her home in Beijing after a district court ordered her to leave before Thursday. “Although I am an American citizen, I face restrictions [in China] that I cannot leave the country and I have nowhere to turn to for help,” Huang, 49, wrote in an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115745/let-us-go-home-us-relative-corrupt-china-security-chief-pleads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115745/let-us-go-home-us-relative-corrupt-china-security-chief-pleads?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 14:36:57 +0000 The former party chief of Shaanxi province has been given a suspended death sentence for his part in a major corruption scandal. Zhao Zhengyong, 69, was found guilty of receiving bribes of 717 million yuan (US$102 million) for approving construction projects, business operations and appointments to government jobs, according to the official website of the Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People’s Court, where his case was heard. The court said the scale of his corruption merited a death sentence but it... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3095595/chinese-provincial-chief-given-suspended-death-sentence-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3095595/chinese-provincial-chief-given-suspended-death-sentence-role?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jul 2020 12:54:53 +0000 A Chinese human rights lawyer and his family have arrived in the United States after fleeing threats of “persecution” in China. Lawyer Chen Jiangang, his wife and two children arrived in New York on Saturday, Bob Fu, founder and president of human rights group ChinaAid, said on his Twitter account. “Thanks to the help of more than 50 brothers and sisters, lawyer Jiangang and his family have finally made their arduous journey through several countries and arrived in the land of freedom, the USA,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3021473/chinese-rights-lawyer-chen-jiangang-flees-us-escape-persecution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3021473/chinese-rights-lawyer-chen-jiangang-flees-us-escape-persecution?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:30:10 +0000 China stands to benefit from the ongoing tussle between US President Donald Trump and his political rivals over the question of his alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 US presidential elections. Since the full redacted report of Robert Mueller’s investigation on this matter was released last Thursday, there have been calls for further investigation or impeachment of Trump by several of his opponents, despite Mueller’s investigation finding no conclusive evidence that the president... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3007294/are-chinese-leaders-smiling-trump-gets-hounded-democrats-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3007294/are-chinese-leaders-smiling-trump-gets-hounded-democrats-over?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2019 18:30:09 +0000 With former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei under investigation in China and the government raising the “pernicious legacy” of disgraced ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang, there is growing speculation over whether the two cases are linked. But a source close to Zhou’s family has dismissed the suggestion they are connected. The Ministry of Public Security on Monday accused Meng, who is also vice-minister of public security, of taking bribes. The investigation is being handled by the National Supervisory... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2167708/ex-interpol-chief-meng-hongwei-was-never-close-disgraced-former?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2167708/ex-interpol-chief-meng-hongwei-was-never-close-disgraced-former?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Oct 2018 13:14:33 +0000 It looks like being a particularly grim Lunar New Year in the “tigers’ cage” this week. The notorious Qincheng maximum security prison houses many disgraced senior Communist Party officials – including fallen security chief Zhou Yongkang, former Chongqing boss Bo Xilai, ex-presidential aide Ling Jihua and Guo Boxiong, who was once a top general.  Normally, some of those prisoners who are aged over 60 can look forward to a Lunar New Year meal with a few family members, but a source close to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2133251/xi-jinpings-anti-graft-drive-has-caught-so-many?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2133251/xi-jinpings-anti-graft-drive-has-caught-so-many?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Feb 2018 07:00:00 +0000 Chongqing has appointed a new police chief, filling a hot seat in the Chinese megacity that over the past five years has been inextricably linked to the demise of not one but two of its former party bosses. Deng Huilin, 51, former deputy police chief of Hubei province and an ex-general office director at the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, will take up the job, the Jiulongpo district government said in a statement released on Friday. Ex-Chongqing Communist Party boss under... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2104589/can-chongqings-new-police-chief-break-curse-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2104589/can-chongqings-new-police-chief-break-curse-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jul 2017 08:34:31 +0000 Collusion between business and the state is nothing new. It has underpinned the rise of capitalism from Europe to America where the term “robber barons” came to refer to the 19th-century tycoons who amassed tremendous wealth through such unscrupulous means as monopolising natural resources and exploiting political influences. Those robber barons once ruled America and their legacies are still felt today through their names: Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie. Some of China’s political and business... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2094155/opinion-chinas-robber-barons-take-collusion-whole-new-level?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2094155/opinion-chinas-robber-barons-take-collusion-whole-new-level?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 May 2017 05:03:55 +0000 A former Communist Party chief in Hebei, who once declared “I don’t wear masks” when questioned about smog in the heavily-polluted province, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for taking bribes, making him the latest close associate of the disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang to be thrown behind bars. Zhou Benshun, who previously served as an aide to Zhou Yongkang, was convicted on Tuesday of taking more than 40 million yuan (US$5.8 million) in bribes directly or through his family, a court... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2071053/ex-aide-disgraced-china-security-czar-zhou-yongkang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2071053/ex-aide-disgraced-china-security-czar-zhou-yongkang?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Feb 2017 06:10:41 +0000 A top general and former ally of disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang has been arrested for violating Communist Party discipline, a euphemism for corruption, sources told the South China Morning Post. General Wang Jianping, 62, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department under the powerful Central Military Commission, was taken away in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Thursday afternoon, one of the sources said. Wang’s wife; secretary; and former secretary, Su Haihui, now deputy director of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2009370/top-chinese-general-linked-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2009370/top-chinese-general-linked-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Aug 2016 05:45:30 +0000 A court in central China on Friday jailed for seven years on corruption charges a man identified by Chinese media as a fortune-teller and healer connected to the disgraced former public security chief Zhou Yongkang. Zhou, the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft probe since the ruling Communist Party swept to power in 1949, was jailed for life last year for bribery, leaking state secrets and abuse of power. So who is mysterious ‘fortune teller’ courted by disgraced Zhou... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1987144/fortune-teller-linked-disgraced-chinese-security-chief-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1987144/fortune-teller-linked-disgraced-chinese-security-chief-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jul 2016 06:22:12 +0000 China’s Communist Party cadres were warned on Tuesday to learn from the downfall of factions of corrupt officials, known as the “Petroleum” and “Secretary” gangs. The stern warning was meant for other factions within the party, who were believed to still be operating more in their clique’s interests than in the party’s, according to analysts. “[We] must constantly be alert of, discover and punish in time those who form their own circles within the party,” said an article published in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1913589/what-not-learn-zhou-yongkang-and-ling-jihua-fall-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1913589/what-not-learn-zhou-yongkang-and-ling-jihua-fall-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:11:25 +0000 Li Dongsheng, the former deputy national police chief and ally of ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang, has been jailed for 15 years on corruption charges, state media reported. State broadcaster CCTV briefly announced details of the sentence on Tuesday morning. The total sums involved in Li’s case amounted to nearly 22 million yuan (HK$26 million), according to previous state media reports. Li, 60, is one of several senior officials jailed on graft charges who had close ties to Zhou. The former... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1900052/former-top-chinese-police-official-and-zhou-yongkang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1900052/former-top-chinese-police-official-and-zhou-yongkang?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jan 2016 03:33:01 +0000 The Communist Party’s discipline chief Wang Qishan vowed yesterday there would be no let-up in the far-reaching anti-graft campaign in 2016. “Punishment works better than words,” Wang, head of the graft-busting Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, told a preparatory meeting for an upcoming CCDI conference involving provincial party leaders. “We will let the public see and enjoy our achievement fighting corruption,” he said. “The strength of our anti-corruption efforts will not be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1898971/punishment-better-words-chinas-top-graft-buster-vows-no?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1898971/punishment-better-words-chinas-top-graft-buster-vows-no?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:00:00 +0000 A 51-year-old businesswoman was a mistress of the jailed former security czar Zhou Yongkang and profited from their relationship by at least 30 million yuan (HK$35 million) by reselling illicit distribution rights to natural gas, according to an investigate report by a newspaper in China. Li Xiaomei, who comes from Nanjing, has disappeared from public view since August 2013 and her case is now “going through the judicial process”, The Beijing News reported. READ MORE: China’s disgraced security... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1896755/zhou-yongkang-mistress-profited-least-us45m-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1896755/zhou-yongkang-mistress-profited-least-us45m-through?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Dec 2015 05:30:00 +0000 A court in China has sentenced a former top aide to the country’s jailed security chief Zhou Yongkang to 12 years in prison for corruption, state broadcaster China Central Television reported on its social media account on Tuesday. Li Chongxi, once the top political adviser in the southwestern province of Sichuan, one of Zhou’s old strongholds, was indicted on corruption charges in April. READ MORE: Sichuan CPPCC chairman under investigation for corruption He is among a slew of former Zhou... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1875203/aide-chinas-top-security-chief-zhou-yongkang-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1875203/aide-chinas-top-security-chief-zhou-yongkang-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Nov 2015 03:30:15 +0000 China has indicted the former Communist Party boss of the northern province of Hebei on suspicion of bribery, the state prosecutor said on Thursday. The offical, Zhou Benshun, previously had worked with China’s disgraced one-time domestic security chief, who was jailed for life in June after a secret trial in China’s most sensational graft scandal in 70 years. As the party boss in Hebei, Zhou was the top official in the province surrounding Beijing and China’s most important steel producer. READ... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1873629/former-aide-jailed-chinese-national-security-chief-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1873629/former-aide-jailed-chinese-national-security-chief-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Oct 2015 03:31:16 +0000 Two former aides of China's disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang were each jailed for 20 years for graft yesterday, following the sentencing of his two key allies on Monday. Wang Yongchun, former deputy general manager of oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), was found guilty of taking 48 million yuan in bribes over more than a decade, possessing assets he could not account for, and abusing his position. He was fined 2million yuan (HK$2.45 million). The verdict was handed down... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1867324/two-more-allies-chinas-former-security-tsar-taken-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1867324/two-more-allies-chinas-former-security-tsar-taken-down?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2015 15:45:00 +0000 Two senior Chinese officials with close ties to disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang have been formally charged with taking bribes, China’s top prosecuting body said on Friday. Former deputy national police chief Li Dongsheng took advantage of his positions at state broadcaster CCTV, the Ministry of Public Security and the party’s Central Politics and Law Commission to seek benefits for others in exchange for huge profits, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement on its website on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1851502/china-china-charges-two-senior-officials-linked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1851502/china-china-charges-two-senior-officials-linked?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Aug 2015 11:00:15 +0000 There is not usually a lot of edification to be found in the trial of a disgraced member of the Communist Party's inner circle. But there were expectations that the case of former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang might prove an exception. The official line that it showed no one is above the law raised hopes that the trial would be a significant boost to efforts to promote the rule of law on the mainland. Alas, they have been disappointed. Many people saw a precedent for open... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1820767/mainlands-anti-corruption-drive-still-has-way-go?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1820767/mainlands-anti-corruption-drive-still-has-way-go?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2015 16:48:49 +0000 The lighter-than-expected sentence handed to former security tsar Zhou Yongkang after a closed-door trial was a well-calculated political decision by Beijing that likely followed "Chinese-style plea bargains" under the table, observers say. Two years into his graft probe, Zhou's fate was finally decided on Thursday when a court in Tianjin jailed him for life on charges of taking 731,000 yuan (HK$920,000) in bribes, leaking six classified documents to a mainland "qigong master", and abusing his... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820755/secrecy-trial-chinas-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820755/secrecy-trial-chinas-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2015 16:15:45 +0000 Two former senior officials subject to graft probes are ill and may not be able to stand trial, sources with ties to the leadership say, possibly sparing the Communist Party of having more of its secrets exposed in public. Two sources with ties to the leadership said separately Ling Jihua, 59, an ex-top aide to President Xi Jinping's predecessor Hu Jintao, had apparently suffered a nervous breakdown, while Guo Boxiong, a former top general, was gravely ill with cancer. The party announced an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820754/two-senior-chinese-officials-suspected-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820754/two-senior-chinese-officials-suspected-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2015 16:15:15 +0000 The disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang once had a legion of trusted aides taking care of his graft schemes. But none of them was a match for the mysterious “Xinjiang sage” when it came to Zhou confiding in state secrets. When the Tianjin court read out its verdict on Zhou on Thursday, it was revealed that he had handed six classified documents – five of which were top secret – to 56-year-old Cao Yongzheng. Cao – dubbed the Xinjiang sage after the region where he grew up – has previously been... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820655/so-who-mysterious-fortune-teller-courted-disgraced-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820655/so-who-mysterious-fortune-teller-courted-disgraced-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2015 11:45:00 +0000 Disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang once had a legion of trusted aides taking care of his graft schemes. But none was a match for the mysterious "Xinjiang sage" when it came to Zhou confiding about state secrets. When the court in Tianjin read out the verdict on Zhou on Thursday, it was revealed he had handed six classified documents - five of which were top secret - to 56-year-old Cao Yongzheng. Cao - dubbed the Xinjiang sage after the region where he grew up - has previously been identified... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1820565/chinas-fallen-strongman-zhou-yongkang-and-mysterious-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1820565/chinas-fallen-strongman-zhou-yongkang-and-mysterious-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:15:30 +0000 The mainland's former security tsar Zhou Yongkang was yesterday sentenced to life in jail - the most senior official to receive such a heavy sentence since the Cultural Revolution, although analysts say he was treated relatively favourably. The Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People's Court tried Zhou in secret last month on charges of taking bribes, abuse of power and intentionally leaking state secrets, Xinhua reported. He was also stripped of his political rights for life and his personal assets... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820432/chinas-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820432/chinas-disgraced-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:30:30 +0000 Zhou Yongkang's family members and close associates were named in the court's verdict as key witnesses to his criminal charges, exposing Zhou's connections to the political, business and energy sectors. Sichuan businessman Wu Bing was called as a witness to testify in court on Zhou's bribery charge, while Zhou's eldest son Zhou Bin and his wife Jia Xiaoye testified in a video played during the trial as evidence, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Wu, 52, was the chairman of the Zhongxu... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820414/complex-web-unravels-trial-follows-money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1820414/complex-web-unravels-trial-follows-money?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:30:00 +0000 China’s former security tsar Zhou Yongkang has been sentenced to life imprisonment by Tianjin No.1 Intermediate People’s Court. He was also stripped of all political rights for life and all his personal assets were confiscated, Xinhua reported on Thursday. State television showed pictures of a white-haired Zhou admitting his guilt in court and saying that he would not appeal. Zhou, the most senior Chinese official to stand trial on graft charges in decades, was formally charged in April with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1820280/life-jail-chinas-disgraced-security-tsar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1820280/life-jail-chinas-disgraced-security-tsar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2015 10:00:15 +0000 The trial date for China's former security tsar Zhou Yongkang has been postponed amid a push by the authorities to build a stronger case against him. Sources confirmed the trial was originally set for late April, but that this had now been pushed back. The reason for the delay is not known, but there is speculation Zhou may have retracted his confession. The long-awaited official announcement that Zhou would face trial came at the beginning of last month. He will be tried by a court in Tianjin,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1792418/trial-chinas-former-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-hit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1792418/trial-chinas-former-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-hit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2015 15:00:15 +0000 With the announcement that former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been formally charged and his case handed to prosecutors in Tianjin, the stage is set for the mainland's most anticipated trial since that of his ally Bo Xilai two years ago. It remains to be revealed when it will be held and whether we can expect a repeat of the comparative openness of the riveting proceedings against Bo, now serving life in jail. What sets the two apart is that the charges against Zhou of taking bribes, abuse... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1759751/trial-former-china-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1759751/trial-former-china-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2015 17:00:45 +0000 Since former security tsar Zhou Yongkang was stripped of Communist Party membership in December, the authorities have applied some of the worst labels to the most senior "tiger" taken down by President Xi Jinping's graft-busting campaign. Party mouthpiece People's Daily likened him to past party "traitors" while the Supreme People's Court accused Zhou and former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai of "undermining the party's solidarity and engaging in political activities that are not approved by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1755685/crime-and-punishment-what-will-zhou-yongkang-face-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1755685/crime-and-punishment-what-will-zhou-yongkang-face-court?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:30:45 +0000 Bringing the powerful ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang to trial marks a high point in President Xi Jinping's war against corruption but questions remain about whether he can build on the momentum. China watchers and experts said it was difficult to predict whether Xi would go after another "tiger" of Zhou's stature or someone even bigger. Ling Jihua - the right-hand man of former president Hu Jintao - is under investigation but yet to be charged. But Ling never reached the top echelon of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1755712/zhou-yongkang-trial-marks-high-point-graft-fight-can-xi-keep-pace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1755712/zhou-yongkang-trial-marks-high-point-graft-fight-can-xi-keep-pace?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:30:15 +0000 Former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been formally charged with taking bribes, abuse of power and intentionally leaking state secrets. The announcement yesterday triggered speculation over when the trial would be held, how open it would be and whether Zhou, the first Politburo Standing Committee member to stand trial on criminal charges, would face the death penalty. Zhou is to stand trial in Tianjin, about 120km from Beijing. [Zhou’s] abuse of power has … done severe damage to the national... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1755037/chinas-ex-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-indicted-after-graft-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1755037/chinas-ex-security-tsar-zhou-yongkang-indicted-after-graft-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2015 01:15:15 +0000 The Supreme People's Court has for the first time accused disgraced top cadres Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai and others of engaging in political activities "not approved" by the Communist Party. The claim was made in the court's annual work report published on Wednesday in a section on the need to strengthen education on obeying discipline and avoiding corruption in the judicial system. The report said that court staff should "clearly recognise the serious damage" caused by Zhou, Bo and others, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1741522/supreme-court-report-takes-aim-zhou-and-bo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1741522/supreme-court-report-takes-aim-zhou-and-bo?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:00:45 +0000 The Sichuan party chief yesterday said former security tsar Zhou Yongkang's long involvement in local affairs were to blame for the province's series of corruption scandals. "[His interference] had an abominable effect on Sichuan's political ecosystem," Wang Dongming said at the delegation's open discussion. He added that it made the province a unique case in the national anti-corruption campaign. Zhou served as the Sichuan party chief from 1999 to 2002 before being promoted to membership of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1732247/zhou-yongkangs-long-involvement-sichuan-blame-provinces-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1732247/zhou-yongkangs-long-involvement-sichuan-blame-provinces-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2015 21:37:12 +0000 For inquisitive mainlanders visiting Hong Kong, a trip to the city's cramped bookstores is as de rigueur as shopping and sightseeing. These customers are most likely to be seen milling around selections of volumes with crudely designed covers that promise intriguing or salacious tales of a "coup" or "assassination" in the Zhongnanhai headquarters of the Communist Party's leaders or epic battles between Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao or Jiang Zemin . Crowding together often for hours at a time, they... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1707443/tall-tell-all-tale-dark-side-chinese-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1707443/tall-tell-all-tale-dark-side-chinese-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2015 21:02:51 +0000 Sichuan has vowed to erase the legacy of disgraced former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who was the provincial party secretary more than a decade ago, Xinhua reports. A circular issued by the Sichuan Communist Party Committee said the authorities would fight corruption firmly and eradicate the pernicious effects on the local political environment and economy a result of Zhou’s influence. It said no clue linked to Zhou’s case would be overlooked. Any official found connected with Zhou – who, as a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1695533/sichuan-province-officials-vow-erase-legacy-former-strongman-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1695533/sichuan-province-officials-vow-erase-legacy-former-strongman-zhou?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2015 04:45:45 +0000 The Communist Party's top security commission wrapped up its two-day work conference on Wednesday, pledging to eradicate the influence of disgraced former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who headed the body between 2007 and 2012. Central Politics and Law Commission secretary Meng Jianzhu said at the conference that Zhou's practice of trading power for sex and money not only damaged the party's reputation, but also "led astray" many cadres. Meng vowed to "thoroughly cleanse" the commission of Zhou's... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1688636/top-party-law-body-weed-out-zhou-yongkangs-influence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1688636/top-party-law-body-weed-out-zhou-yongkangs-influence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:00:15 +0000 Xinhua has made a rare acknowledgment of factions within the Communist Party, and named key members who are tied to disgraced top cadres Zhou Yongkang and Ling Jihua. But President Xi Jinping had weighed the risks in going after such "tigers", the state mouthpiece said. "Tigers" refer to leading national figures targeted in the anti-corruption campaign. In an article carried on its affiliated news portal over the weekend, Xinhua named several fallen senior officials as connected to the so-called... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1674062/fallen-officials-behind-factions-xinhua-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1674062/fallen-officials-behind-factions-xinhua-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:00:45 +0000 The coming trial of Zhou Yongkang, the biggest "tiger" to be netted by President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption, is anticipated like none other - bar two. One is the televised case against the Gang of Four more than 30 years ago, and the other the trial last year of Zhou's ally Bo Xilai, in which a delayed internet feed of sensational allegations and defiant defence transfixed a national audience. Despite Xi's championing of accountability and the rule of law, a comparable airing of sordid... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1660223/rule-law-china-remains-work-progress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1660223/rule-law-china-remains-work-progress?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2014 22:45:45 +0000 The Communist Party's top mouthpiece has likened disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang to past party "traitors", all of whom were executed. An article released through People's Daily's WeChat account last night said Zhou's deeds made him "no different from a 'traitor'", a reference that prompted speculation that the former member of the innermost Politburo Standing Committee could face the death penalty. The party announced on the weekend that a graft probe had uncovered evidence that Zhou had... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1660278/top-communist-party-paper-puts-zhou-yongkang-traitor-class?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1660278/top-communist-party-paper-puts-zhou-yongkang-traitor-class?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:14:37 +0000 Former power bases of disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang and his allies have vowed to uphold party unity and oppose the forming of political cliques, even as analysts described alleged collusive acts by Zhou's power network as the "most dangerous form of corruption". "[We] have to self-consciously safeguard the party's unity. [We] are firmly against nepotism and forging political circles," read the Sichuan provincial party committee's statement after a meeting on Friday afternoon. The meeting... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657238/ex-security-tsar-zhou-yongkangs-power-bases-cut-ties-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657238/ex-security-tsar-zhou-yongkangs-power-bases-cut-ties-him?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2014 19:15:45 +0000 The Communist Party's decision to expel Zhou Yongkang and hand him over to prosecutors has almost certainly put an end to his career, which extended across the most influential sectors of modern China - oil, land and the national police apparatus. Zhou was born in 1942 in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, and studied oil exploration at the Beijing Petroleum Institute, graduating in 1966. He joined a geology team scouting for wells in Heilongjiang' s Daqing Field, which was then just starting... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657098/petroleum-gang-star-held-wide-sway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657098/petroleum-gang-star-held-wide-sway?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2014 20:47:30 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657096/muted-reaction-mainland-media-zhou-yongkangs-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657096/muted-reaction-mainland-media-zhou-yongkangs-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2014 20:47:30 +0000 Zhou Yongkang , the former security tsar and Politburo Standing Committee member, is likely to face a suspended death sentence, a tougher penalty than the one meted out to disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai , analysts say. Announcing yesterday that Zhou had been expelled from the Communist Party and would face prosecution, Xinhua listed six key areas in which he had violated "party and organisational discipline and secrecy". One of those claims was leaking state secrets, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657113/zhou-yongkang-can-expect-tougher-treatment-bo-xilai-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1657113/zhou-yongkang-can-expect-tougher-treatment-bo-xilai-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2014 18:15:15 +0000 How the Communist Party leadership and judiciary treat the case of former security tsar Zhou Yongkang  will be the first real test of President Xi Jinping’s  ambition to promote government accountability and rule by law, analysts say. The party promoted the principle of rule by law for the first time in its history at the fourth plenum in October. Zhiqun Zhu, director of Bucknell University’s China Institute, said Zhou’s case would be a litmus test because it would be subject to the judiciary,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1656872/zhou-yongkang-case-put-rule-law-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1656872/zhou-yongkang-case-put-rule-law-test?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Dec 2014 18:13:58 +0000 Zhou Yongkang, China's former security chief and Politburo member, has been stripped of his Communist Party membership and will face prosecution, Xinhua reported early on Saturday, citing the Politburo of the party’s Central Committee. Zhou, 72, was accused of a series of serious violations of “party and organisational discipline and secrecy”, ranging from taking bribes to leaking party and state secrets and “exchanging power and money for sex”. The report said he took bribes and abused his post... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1656854/zhou-yongkang-kicked-out-chinese-communist-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1656854/zhou-yongkang-kicked-out-chinese-communist-party?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Dec 2014 17:30:30 +0000 The graft investigation into former security tsar Zhou Yongkang will take longer than expected because authorities are taking a painstaking approach to gathering evidence, a senior judicial official said yesterday. Zhang Sujun , vice-minister of justice, said the government would make an announcement once the Communist Party's anti-graft agency had completed its investigation. "[We] will make an announcement to the public when the investigation has come to a specified stage," Zhang said in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1633001/why-zhou-yongkang-graft-probe-taking-longer-expected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1633001/why-zhou-yongkang-graft-probe-taking-longer-expected?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Nov 2014 14:30:30 +0000 Authorities have yet to start legal proceedings against Zhou Yongkang because the party wants to ensure a cast-iron case against the former security chief, according to an analyst. Jiang Bixin, the deputy head of the Supreme People's Court, China's highest court, said yesterday the country had yet to start legal proceedings against the highest-profile figure to be caught in a government crackdown on corruption. He was responding to a journalist's question about Zhou's fate at a news conference... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1629799/zhou-yongkang-yet-be-prosecuted-says-senior-court-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1629799/zhou-yongkang-yet-be-prosecuted-says-senior-court-official?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2014 03:45:17 +0000