CHINA-INTERNAL: LEADERSHIP-ZHOU YONGKANG

The People's Daily's WeChat account on December 15, 2014 declared that Zhou Yongkang's deeds made him "no different from a 'traitor'". The People's Daily article also cited the examples of Gu Shunzhang, the head of the party's intelligence services in the 1920s who defected to then ruling Kuomintang in the 1930s and was later executed on the orders of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek for secretly setting up a new party. It also referred to more recent "traitors", citing three senior People's Liberation Army personnel who sold military intelligence to Taiwan. All three were executed. The article said: "The word 'traitor' is rarely used in peacetime, but … corrupt elements who betray the party's purpose, violate discipline and tarnish the party's image … are no different from 'traitors'." (Comment: Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the article might underscore the extent of the damage Zhou has done to the party. In any case, many observers were surprised to see Zhou Yongkang accused of leaking party and state secrets.The top penalty for leaking state secrets is seven years but a corruption conviction can bring a death sentence.)





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