BEIJING: China’s powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang was arrested and put under a judicial probe on Friday after being expelled from the Communist Party.

Zhou — who retired from the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in 2012 — “leaked the party’s and the country’s secrets,” Xinhua said, adding that the once-influential official was found to have “accepted a large amount of money and properties personally and through his family”.

The announcement makes Zhou the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four — a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong — were put on trial in 1980.

An official’s dismissal from the party paves the way for a criminal prosecution which usually leads to guilty verdict at a trial, followed by a prison sentence.

Zhou became ensnared in President Xi Jinping’s much-publicised anti-corruption drive in July when he was put under investigation for “serious disciplinary violation”.

Xinhua said the decision to expel Zhou was made at a Politburo meeting on Friday, indicating that the move was approved by the party’s innermost circle of leaders, Communist Party authorities have been waging an anti-graft campaign since Xi ascended to the leadership two years ago.

The campaign has netted high-level ‘tigers’ as well as low-level “flies” — although critics say the Communist Party has failed to introduce systemic reforms to prevent graft, such as public disclosure of assets.

According to the Xinhua report, which cited a Politburo statement, Zhou “abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets”.

“What Zhou did completely deviated from the Party’s nature and mission, and seriously violated Party discipline,” Xinhua reported, citing the Politburo statement.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2014