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| China’s former security chief given life sentence for corruption | China’s former security chief given life sentence for corruption |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| China’s former security chief and the arch-rival of president Xi Jinping has been sentenced to life in prison following a secret trial. | China’s former security chief and the arch-rival of president Xi Jinping has been sentenced to life in prison following a secret trial. |
| Zhou Yongkang – one of the Communist party’s most powerful and feared figures until his retirement in 2012 – was a key adversary of the Chinese leader and some experts had predicted he would be executed for his alleged crimes. | Zhou Yongkang – one of the Communist party’s most powerful and feared figures until his retirement in 2012 – was a key adversary of the Chinese leader and some experts had predicted he would be executed for his alleged crimes. |
| Related: Zhou Yongkang: oil boss who became China's third most powerful man | |
| Following a secret trial Zhou, 72, was convicted of bribery, abuse of power and leaking state secrets, Xinhua, China’s official news agency, announced on Thursday afternoon. “Zhou pleaded guilty and will not appeal,” Xinhua reported. | Following a secret trial Zhou, 72, was convicted of bribery, abuse of power and leaking state secrets, Xinhua, China’s official news agency, announced on Thursday afternoon. “Zhou pleaded guilty and will not appeal,” Xinhua reported. |
| Zhou was convicted of taking 129m yuan (£13.4m) worth of bribes as well as leaking “top secret files”, Xinhua added. His trial, which was held in the north-eastern city of Tianjin, around 80 miles from Beijing, began on 22 May. | Zhou was convicted of taking 129m yuan (£13.4m) worth of bribes as well as leaking “top secret files”, Xinhua added. His trial, which was held in the north-eastern city of Tianjin, around 80 miles from Beijing, began on 22 May. |
| Xi, who became Communist party chief in late 2012 just as Zhou stepped down, has been portrayed as China’s most powerful and authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong. | Xi, who became Communist party chief in late 2012 just as Zhou stepped down, has been portrayed as China’s most powerful and authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong. |
| However, Steve Tsang, an expert on Chinese politics from the University of Nottingham, said Beijing’s decision to try Zhou in secret suggested Xi was not as dominant as some observers suggest. | However, Steve Tsang, an expert on Chinese politics from the University of Nottingham, said Beijing’s decision to try Zhou in secret suggested Xi was not as dominant as some observers suggest. |
| “He is still powerful, he is still confident – but not as much as we were all giving him credit for,” he said. Xi has been waging a high-profile war on corruption, vowing to eliminate thieving “tigers and flies” from the Communist party. | “He is still powerful, he is still confident – but not as much as we were all giving him credit for,” he said. Xi has been waging a high-profile war on corruption, vowing to eliminate thieving “tigers and flies” from the Communist party. |
| But much of the explanation for Zhou’s downfall was political, Tsang said. Xi would have seen his rival as a major obstacle preventing him from asserting “his supremacy within the party”. | But much of the explanation for Zhou’s downfall was political, Tsang said. Xi would have seen his rival as a major obstacle preventing him from asserting “his supremacy within the party”. |
| “We don’t know what Xi Jinping wants to do in China yet but we do know that he is ambitious. We do know that he wants to leave a mark.” | “We don’t know what Xi Jinping wants to do in China yet but we do know that he is ambitious. We do know that he wants to leave a mark.” |
| The court said Zhou had accepted its decision and would not file an appeal. While the charges potentially mandated a death sentence, it said Zhou received leniency after confessing and showing repentance and ordering his relatives to hand over the majority of their ill-gotten gains. | |
| Zhou is the highest-ranking former politician to face court since the 1981 treason trial of Mao Zedong’s wife and other members of the “Gang of Four” who persecuted political opponents during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. | |
| The dour-faced and once-feared Zhou had been under investigation since late 2013, and has been unavailable for comment since then. The investigation also scrutinized Zhou’s former allies in government and the oil industry. | |
| Zhou was once seen as untouchable, with a vast patronage network covering the southwestern province of Sichuan where he used to be party boss to the state oil sector, police and courts. | |
| He spent the early part of his career in the oil industry, rising through the ranks over several decades to become the general manager of China National Petroleum Corp, one of the world’s biggest energy companies, in 1996. | |
| A series of senior figures from the state-owned oil industry have been detained in the anti-corruption crackdown. | |
| Additional reporting by Luna Lin and agencies |