Ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang's power bases cut ties with him

[SoleSurvivor]

Ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang's power bases cut ties with him

Groups associated with the former security tsar distance themselves, pledging to oppose cliques that undermine Communist Party's power

PUBLISHED : Monday, 08 December, 2014, 3:22am
UPDATED : Monday, 08 December, 2014, 3:22am

Keira Lu Huang [email protected]

Sichuan provincial party committee pledges to right the wrongs that Zhou had wrought on Sichuan's politics and economy. Photo: AP

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 - which came hours before Xinhua announced Zhou had been expelled from the Communist Party for breaching discipline, committing graft and leaking state secrets - was held to convey the party's decision on Zhou to the committee, the official Sichuan Daily reported yesterday.

At the meeting, the committee pledged to right the wrongs that Zhou had wrought on Sichuan's politics and economy. It would learn a hard lesson from Zhou's case, the committee said.

Units across the military have also declared their support for the party's decision, the PLA Daily reported yesterday, highlighting voices from the Chengdu and Jinan military commands, as well as the paramilitary police.

The powerful Jiangsu-born cadre worked in Sichuan from 1999 to 2002, upon which he was made security chief and put in charge of the paramilitary police. He also had connections with the Jinan military region as it was the power base of his former ally, the sacked PLA general Xu Caihou.

Peking University anti-graft expert Zhuang Deshui said the declarations by Zhou's former power bases were an interesting phenomenon in mainland politics. It showed that those still in power were willing to sever all connections with Zhou.

"These declarations, on one hand, show that the current cadres have said goodbye to mistakes they might have made in the past," he said.

"On the other hand, it is a kind of support" for President Xi Jinping's leadership."

Zhuang described Zhou's case as the most dangerous form of corruption as it involved acts committed by cliques or factions rather than just an individual.

"These kind of cliques often already hold some political power and social influence. They could totally take advantage of economic and political resources to put the government under their control and affect the policymaking process," he said. "Once these cliques develop, they will endanger the regime."

Zhuang's point was echoed in a People's Daily commentary published shortly after Zhou's expulsion.

The party was firmly against the "forming of gangs or groups" and "absolutely does not allow any kind of non-party-organised activities," the commentary said.

Since Beijing's investigation into Zhou in July, several groups previously known to be aligned with him have surfaced.

Over the past two years, more than 50 senior officials from Sichuan, the China National Petroleum Corporation, the national security system, among others, have been detained.

Zhou's former allies, Bo Xilai and Xu have also been sacked. Bo was sentenced to life in prison for bribery and abuse of power late last year.