THE sight of China’s former security chief, Zhou Yongkang, white-haired and grim-faced as he was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 11th, will surely become an iconic image of the anti-corruption campaign that was launched by Xi Jinping after he became China’s leader in 2012. Mr Zhou is the highest-ranking party member ever indicted for graft. A guilty verdict had been expected since he was put under investigation last July for taking bribes, abusing power and leaking state secrets. What comes next?
Mr Zhou was once a man of awesome power who, until his retirement in 2012, controlled the secret police, the police and the courts. He also held a seat in the Communist Party’s innermost sanctum, the Politburo Standing Committee. By jailing him, Mr Xi has displayed extraordinary political muscle. But he has also rewritten the rules of Chinese politics, making it harder to predict what his next move might be. Views diverge to an unusual degree. Some believe that the anti-corruption campaign may now lose momentum; others that Mr Xi is getting into his stride.
There are reasons to suppose that Mr...Continue reading
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