China Probe of Zhou for Leaks May Mean Closed-Door Trial
This article is for subscribers only.
With former China security chief Zhou Yongkang under investigation for leaking state secrets, formal charges would allow for a closed-door trial that would test the Communist Party’s resolve to make its legal machinery more transparent.
The expulsion from the party of Zhou, the most senior Chinese official taken down for corruption since the communists took power in 1949, was announced in the early hours of Dec. 6. The step indicates President Xi Jinping has strengthened his grip on power, overcoming resistance from some factions within the leadership who were seen as unhappy that he was ending an unwritten code of immunity for former top leaders.