Zhou, Bo formed ‘clique’ to challenge leaders

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BEIJING: The two biggest Chinese politicians to fall in recent years, ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang and former high-flyer Bo Xilai, formed a ‘clique’ together, state media reported yesterday as President Xi Jinping pledges a crackdown on Communist Party factionalism.

The two men “celebrated their political rapport” and vowed to “play a big game”, the China Daily said, citing a lengthy report in Hong Kong’s Phoenix Weekly magazine.

The article appears to be the first time that mainland media have reported allegations of a faction formed by the two once-powerful men, long seen as allies by analysts.

China’s ruling party is riven by factional divisions but consistently seeks to present a united front to outsiders. Zhou, who was arrested and expelled from the ruling party last month, is the most senior party official to face prosecution since the 1980s, in a fall that sent shock waves through the communist elite.

He moved one step closer to trial last week when the party’s internal watchdog announced that his case had been sent to prosecutors.

Officially the action against Zhou is part of Xi’s much-publicised anti-graft drive that has targeted both high-level ‘tigers’ as well as low-level ‘flies’.

But critics note that China has failed to implement institutional safeguards against graft, such as public asset disclosure, an independent judiciary, and free media, leaving anti-corruption campaigns subject to the influence of politics.

Bo, meanwhile, fell from grace after a scandal erupted around the 2011 killing of a British businessman, and he was later sentenced to life in prison for graft.

The onetime Communist Party star’s open ambition and hard-charging approach were seen to have led to his ouster from the ranks – factors that experts say also contributed to Zhou’s downfall. — AFP