Beijing: China’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang is under investigation, authorities said Tuesday, in a move targeting one of the ruling Communist Party’s most powerful men.
Zhou, who retired from China’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in 2012, is being probed for “serious disciplinary violation”, the ruling party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, its internal watchdog, said.
The term is usually used to refer to corruption.
With the official announcement of the long-rumoured probe, Zhou becomes the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four — a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong — were put on trial in 1980. Zhou was once an ally of fallen political star Bo Xilai.
The decision was made in accordance with the ruling party’s constitution, and the “discipline inspection authority’s case investigation regulation”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
The move will have been preceded by extensive negotiations within the factionalised ruling party, but is still likely to send shockwaves through the political establishment, as PSC members have long been regarded as untouchable even after retirement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on endemic graft among top party members, or “tigers”, as well as low-ranking members, or “flies”.
