Zhou Yongkang kicked out of Chinese Communist Party
Former security chief accused of leaking state secrets as well as accepting bribes as case is handed over to prosecutors
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 06 December, 2014, 1:30am
UPDATED : Saturday, 06 December, 2014, 2:47am
Staff reporter
Former public security minister Zhou Yongkang. Photo: Reuters
Zhou Yongkang, China's former security chief and Poliburo 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 for the benefit of others, including mistresses, relatives and friends.
He was also accused of causing heavy losses of state-owned assets.
The announcement was the first time that allegations that Zhou leaked state secrets had been reported.
The decision on Friday to expel Zhou and hand his case over to prosecutors came after the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection carried out an investigation into Zhou earlier this year, Xinhua reported.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate had approved Zhou’s arrest, the report said.
In a commentary published at midnight, party mouthpiece People’s Daily vowed to firmly fight corruption to uphold party discipline.
“His actions completely go against the nature and goals of the Communist Party, and have damaged the image of the party,” it said. “Firmly investigating Zhou shows our zero-tolerance approach to corruption.”
The party announced in July that Zhou, who retired from the Politburo Standing Committee in 2012, was officially investigated for “serious disciplinary violations” – a euphemism for corruption.
One of the most influential politicians of the last decade, Zhou has been embroiled om the biggest graft scandal since the party took power in 1949. He was last seen in public more than a year ago.
It is also a landmark case in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption in the government and party ranks.
