Bloomberg said in a report that the Chinese government has launched an investigation on a former aide of Zhou Yongkang, former senior member of the mainland's Politburo Standing Committee .for discipline violations. Ji Wenlin would be the latest official to get ensnared in corruption probes in China surrounding Zhou, the news agency said.
On its website, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Ji, who is currently the vice governor of southern China's Hainan province, is under investigation for serious violations of discipline and laws. The Commission however, failed to provide additional information regarding the probe, which was launched two weeks before the yearly meeting of the National People's Congress, the mainland's legislature, happening on March 5.
Bloomberg counted Ji as the fifth person who has connections Zhou and is facing potential corruption-related charges. The news agency also said that the Commission would most likely go after Zhou himself. Quoting two anonymous sources of the South China Morning Post for an article published on January 29, the Asian paper said probe on Zhou is in its last stage.
City University of Hong Kong political science professor Joseph Cheng said that should a delay in prosecuting Zhou occur, it could mirror the divisions of China's legislature and President Xi Jinping, who over a year aho launched an anti-corruption campaign upon elected.
Talking to Bloomberg over the phone, he said, "We expect that there will be people pleading on his behalf because there is speculation that if Zhou Yongkang can be prosecuted, then there will be others. This is why Xi Jinping can certainly expect a lot of resistance."
The main focuses of the anti-corruption campaign of Xi are on the military, provincial officials, and state-owned enterprises. Reuters said last month that according to two people, over a dozen senior officials had bee questioned by Chinese investigations as part of the probe on Zhou.
