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| China arrests ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang | China arrests ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang, the most senior Chinese official to be investigated for corruption, has been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report. | Ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang, the most senior Chinese official to be investigated for corruption, has been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report. |
| The Supreme People's Procuratorate, China's top prosecuting body, said it had opened a formal probe against him. | The Supreme People's Procuratorate, China's top prosecuting body, said it had opened a formal probe against him. |
| Before he retired two years ago, Mr Zhou was the head of China's vast internal security apparatus. | Before he retired two years ago, Mr Zhou was the head of China's vast internal security apparatus. |
| Many of his former associates and relatives also face corruption probes. | Many of his former associates and relatives also face corruption probes. |
| Since coming to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a high-profile campaign to weed out corruption among party and government officials. | Since coming to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a high-profile campaign to weed out corruption among party and government officials. |
| Mr Zhou was accused of several crimes, including "serious violations of party discipline", "accepting large sums of bribes", "disclosing party and state secrets" and "committing adultery with several women" as part of corrupt transactions, Xinhua news agency reported (in Chinese). | Mr Zhou was accused of several crimes, including "serious violations of party discipline", "accepting large sums of bribes", "disclosing party and state secrets" and "committing adultery with several women" as part of corrupt transactions, Xinhua news agency reported (in Chinese). |
| Mr Zhou's arrest was announced in a statement by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, released late on Friday night. | Mr Zhou's arrest was announced in a statement by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, released late on Friday night. |
| 'Most feared' | |
| Mr Zhou, who is in his 70s, has not been seen in public for more than a year. | |
| Analysts say the investigation against Mr Zhou allows Xi Jinping to consolidate his power base, remove people opposed to his reforms, and improve the image of the Communist Party. | |
| Mr Zhou was previously also a member of China's top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. | |
| For years, Mr Zhou was one of the most feared men in the country, the BBC's Asia analyst Charles Scanlon reports. | |
| However, Mr Zhou has been systematically isolated for more than a year, with his former associates and family members brought down one by one by corruption allegations, our correspondent adds. | |
| A Chinese minister has previously said that the investigation against Mr Zhou would take a long time to complete. | |
| Mr Zhou had enjoyed a close working relationship with former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, who was sentenced to life imprisonment last year on bribery charges. | |
| Bo's wife Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence in 2012 for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. | |
| Bo's downfall was seen as the biggest political shake-up to hit China's ruling elite in decades, and revealed divisions at the top of the party over how the scandal should be handled. | |
| Timeline: Zhou Yongkang | |
| 1942: Born in Wu Xi city in eastern Jiangsu province | |
| 1964: Joins the Communist Party and spends the next 32 years in the oil sector | |
| 1998: Becomes party secretary of China National Petroleum Corporation | |
| 1999: Appointed party secretary of Sichuan | |
| 2002: Appointed member of the Politburo at the 16th Party Congress; becomes minister of public security later that year | |
| 2007: Further promoted to member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo - China's highest state organ | |
| 2012: His lieutenants begin to get sacked and investigated; he appears with Bo Xilai at Chinese National People's Congress session | |
| December 2013: His son Zhou Bin is arrested on corruption charges | |
| December 2014: Arrested, expelled from party |