Chinese Policy in the Wake of a New Corruption Investigation

The almost certain existence of a corruption investigation of former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang could portend larger changes ahead for China's oil industry and internal security system. After months of speculation, a collection of reports in international mainstream media citing a wide range of high-level sources has confirmed that President Xi Jinping authorized an official inquiry into Zhou's alleged disciplinary infractions sometime in early December. This follows Xi's move in October to establish a separate disciplinary organ reporting directly to himself.

Zhou is perhaps the ultimate "tiger" in Xi's ongoing campaign to root out bureaucratic corruption at both the highest and lowest levels (the "tigers" and "flies"). Zhou served as China's chief of internal security under President Hu Jintao and sits atop a powerful patronage network with close ties to the oil industry and Sichuan Basin region. He is the highest-ranking official to have been subject to a corruption investigation since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 (though he is certainly not the first to be purged in a power struggle). He is also an official who, in the course of a long career, held sway over two pillars of Communist Party power: oil and the police.