Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme Court of the Chinese Communist Party, has written an article hinting publicly for the first time about an incident in which a certain group of Party officials tried to seize power.
The article was published in China’s state-controlled media and alleged that former security czar Zhou Yongkang, former Politburo member Bo Xilai, and others “engaged in unorganized political activities.”
The allegation has attracted wide public attention. Some analysts believe that this semi-publicizing of Zhou and Bo’s attempted coup d'état means Beijing authorities might use the crime to bring charges against Zhou Yongkang.
Zhou Qiang originally made his allegations in a document he prepared for the Supreme Court, which was issued on March 18. In the document, he emphasized “fully recognizing Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai’s trampling on the law” and “the serious harm of unorganized political activities.”
He also advocated “completely eliminating the adverse effects caused by Zhou Yongkang’s serious violation of the law and the negative effect on the work of the Court.”
China’s major websites and official media reported the news, which immediately drew attention in China and abroad. Overseas Chinese media weighed with analysis of the article.
It is generally believed that the article is a signal that Beijing authorities will punish Zhou Yongkang severely.
Some analysts indicate that the allegations of “engaging in unorganized political activities” came directly from Zhou Qiang, which means the authorities could charge Zhou Yongkang with this crime. This also supports overseas reports on Zhou and Bo’s coup plot.
Several media reports have stated that Zhou Qiang’s allegation of “unorganized political activities” confirms the rumors about the political activities of Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, and two other Party officials named Ling Jihua and Xu Caihou.
These rumors spread before Zhou Yongkang was arrested. The four were all placed behind bars, and Xu Caihou died recently.
Next Target: Jiang
In addition to the hints about the coup, Zhou Yongkang’s involvement in illicit organ transplantation has been discussed publicly by Huang Jiefu, former deputy minister of the Ministry of Health. Some analysts indicate that after the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (the “two meetings” ended in the second week of March), officials loyal to current Party head Xi Jinping have hinted frequently about the coup d'état and forced, live organ harvesting done by supporters of former Party leader Jiang Zemin.
The analysts believe the purpose is to pave the road for the conviction of Jiang Zemin and his powerful supporter Zeng Qinghong, the men behind these two core crimes.
On March 15, Phoenix Satellite Television presented a video interview of Huang about Zhou Yongkang’s involvement with organ harvesting from executed prisoners. Many Chinese state-controlled media reprinted the interview.
In it, Huang spoke about the relationship between organ transplants from executed prisoners and the Chinese government’s hunt for “big tigers”—that is, the current campaign to investigate and weed out corrupt Party officials.
“Zhou Yongkang is a big tiger,” Huang said in the interview. “Zhou Yongkang is the secretary of our Politics and Law Committee and a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee; we all know this. The newspapers are talking about his background every day.”
Current affairs commentator Zhang Dongyuan noted that Huang only mentioned organs from death-row prisoners, still covering up the bigger crime of harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience. However, Zhang said, Huang directly pointed out for the first time that Zhou was responsible for live organ harvesting.
Zhang said this implies that Zhou will bear the crime of organ harvesting, and that Zhou’s case has been upgraded.
Epoch Times has reported before that Zhou and Bo attempted a coup to seize power from Xi Jinping, in order to avoid being prosecuted for their involvement in Jiang’s persecution of Falun Gong.
Jiang led the coup plan, Zeng acted as the mastermind, and Zhou was responsible for the implementation and for uniting with military forces by relying on the power of the Politics and Law Committee, the second center of power in the regime.
The purpose was to set up another central authority, get rid of Xi, and push Bo to the top. The plot was premeditated for a long time.
However, Wang Lijun, former deputy mayor of Chongqing and head of the Public Security Bureau fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu on Feb. 6, 2012, leading to the collapse of the coup plan.
After the fall of Bo, Xu, Zhou, and other core members of Jiang’s faction, Xi’s “tiger-catching” campaign has progressed further. The signal has been sent out to target Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong.
Current affairs commentator Xia Xiaoqiang said that Zhou was in charge of the Politics and Legal Affairs Committee for 10 years, controlling a huge amount of intelligence network resources and top level secrets. Xia believes Zhou’s confession will provide evidence of Jiang and Zeng’s crimes.
Xia said that Zhou’s legal trial is not only intended for Zhou, but more for Jiang. If Zhou were convicted only on charges of corruption and the like, it would neither convince the public nor get rid of Jiang. Xia thinks that the Xi officials’ recent allegations that Zhou was involved in the coup and organ harvesting are a sign that Zhou’s case has been upgraded, paving the road for the conviction of Jiang and Zeng.
Translated by Susan Wang. Written in English by Sally Appert.
