HE HAS always looked a rather nasty piece of work, and China’s press now tells us just how nasty. Zhou Yongkang is a thief, a bully, a philanderer and a traitor who disclosed state secrets. The spider at the centre of a web of corrupt patronage, he enriched himself, his family, his many mistresses and his cronies at vast cost to the government. Many Chinese reading the reports of his arrest released early on December 6th must have felt delighted that at last his comeuppance had arrived. But many must also have asked themselves how such a thoroughly bad egg came so close to the pinnacle of political power in China. And some may have wondered why, in its 93-year history, the Chinese Communist Party had promoted so many villains to its upper ranks.
Mr Zhou was for five years the party’s most senior official responsible for the pervasive internal-security apparatus. He is the most senior Chinese politician to face criminal charges since the “Gang of Four” of Chairman Mao’s close associates was arrested in 1976. Since then serving or retired members of the party’s highest body, the Politburo’s Standing Committee, have been immune from the most...Continue reading
No comments:
Post a Comment