Communist Party expels Guo Yongxiang, aide to Zhou Yongkang, and prepares criminal prosecution
Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection says Guo is accused of taking 'massive bribes' and having 'moral failings'
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 April, 2014, 1:55pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 April, 2014, 2:46pm
Keith Zhai [email protected]
Guo Yongxiang (left), another aide to former security czar Zhou Yongkang (right), has been expelled from the Communist Party and is facing criminal charges. Photo: EPA, Weibo
Chinese authorities announced on Wednesday that Guo Yongxiang, a former deputy Sichuan governor and an aide to the retired Communist Party security tsar Zhou Yongkang, had been expelled from the party and would be prosecuted on criminal charges.
Guo, 65, is accused of taking “massive bribes” directly or through his son and abusing his power by helping others, including his son, to make profit, the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on its website. It also accused Guo of being “morally corrupt”, language that usually implies the person in question has had extramarital affairs.
The announcement signals the investigation surrounding Zhou, who was until late 2012 one of the nine most powerful officials in the Communist Party, is coming to an end.
The decision to investigate Zhou was made after the findings of an inquiry into Guo were presented to the top leadership, the South China Morning Post reported earlier.
Guo, a former secretary of Zhou, was detained in June for serious violations of party discipline. He was by then semi-retired in an honorary role as chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles in Sichuan, a political power base of Zhou’s.
The most serious accusations against Guo appeared to be those relating to bribes through his son, although no details were given.
The son, Guo Lianxing, is believed to have had business dealings with family associates of Zhou, according to anonymous sources and corporate documents.
An energy company founded in 2010 under the name of Guo Lianxing is registered under the same address as three other companies known to have close relations with Zhou Bin, Zhou Yongkang’s elder son. The property is owned by Zhan Minli, the mother-in-law of Zhou Bin, corporate documents show.
Guo and the elder Zhou worked together for more than a decade until 2002, when Zhou became a member of the Party's Politburo as head of the Public Security Ministry.
Guo is not the only former secretary or aide of Zhou detained in recent months. Among the others are Ji Wenlin, deputy governor of the southern province of Hainan, and Li Hualin, chairman of Kunlun Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned energy giant PetroChina.
