China has announced it is investigating a man who used to be one of the country’s most powerful politicians, former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang. The investigation is likely to boost already growing public support for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s widening anti-corruption drive.
A brief announcement of the decision came late Tuesday from China’s Xinhua news agency. In its report, Xinhua said the party’s top investigating body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, had begun an investigation into Zhou Yongkang’s suspected “serious disciplinary” violations.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology political scientist David Zweig says the decision to go after Zhou is perhaps the biggest investigation since the Gang of Four at the end of the Cultural Revolution.
“This is a big deal and many, many people would worry that if you can go after people, you know members of the politburo standing committee after they stepped down, than many many (other) people would be vulnerable,” Zweig said.
For months, China has been anticipating the announcement of an investigation into Zhou Yongkang.
Since late last year there have been numerous unconfirmed reports in foreign media that Zhou was the focus of a corruption probe. But when an official announcement did not come in March when the Communist Party held top-level meetings in Beijing, some began to question Chinese President Xi Jinping’s commitment to stamping out corruption.
The Communist Party says it is in a life or death struggle against corruption – a problem that not only threatens the party and state, but also prospects for much needed reform.
