Rumours of Chinese security czar's arrest dispelled by TV appearancePublished: 24-Mar-12, 2012
Beijing (ANN)-China's security czar Zhou Yongkang (pictured) appeared on state television yesterday evening, quelling rampant but unsubstantiated rumours that he was under arrest following a failed coup on Monday.
His meeting with visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in Beijing was broadcast on China Central Television's main 7pm news programme.
This follows standard Chinese political protocol, which dictates that the 30- minute bulletin must report on the official activities of all nine members
of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's most powerful governing body. Zhou, 69, is a PSC member.
His meeting was also not unusual. It is normal for senior Chinese leaders to meet officials from countries they have been to in the past. Zhou visited Indonesia in 2008.
It was Zhou's first public appearance since rumours of a coup circulated in Beijing earlier this week, based on speculation that he was unhappy with the sacking of Bo Xilai as Chongqing party secretary last Thursday.
A Financial Times report cited a person with 'close ties to China's security apparatus' as saying that Zhou had been ordered not to make any public appearances or take any high-level meetings, and was "already under some degree of control".
The British paper, citing the same unnamed source, also said that Bo was under house arrest and that his wife had been taken away for investigation into suspected corruption. It could not confirm the information.
Bo, 62, was sacked as Chongqing party secretary but kept his Politburo seat, after his aide Wang Lijun escaped to the US consulate in Chengdu last month. The case remains shrouded in mystery.
But even though there has been no evidence so far that Zhou, who controls the state security apparatus, has been implicated in the scandal, rumours persisted in Beijing.
Analysts rubbished the speculation. "It is impossible for Zhou to publicly disagree with the removal of Bo. The Politburo Standing Committee must have come to a consensus before sacking him. Elite struggles in China still have quite a bit of civility," said Chinese political observer Wang Zhengxu from the University of Nottingham.
"There is also a rumour that even Zeng Qinghong has been detained. That is impossible. China would be in complete chaos if it is true."
Zeng, 72, is a former vice-president who retired in 2007. Most observers believe he still wields significant power behind the scenes.
Such wild speculation has been raging in the Chinese capital over the past week, fuelled largely by the immensely popular microblogs and the absence of credible official news.
The online hysteria peaked with talk of a 'coup', purportedly led by Zhou. There were claims of tanks entering Beijing, security being beefed up on the subway and even of shots fired from the leadership Zhongnanhai compound and Diaoyutai state guest house.
Censors have been scrambling to erase such posts, blocking an ever increasing list of sensitive names, phrases and terms related to the downfall of Bo.
Searches for 'coup' (zhengbian) have also been routinely rejected by China's vast online censorship system known as the Great Firewall.
Chinese Web users have tried to get around these restrictions by referring to the leaders by a variety of names.
Zhou, for instance, is called Master Kong - a brand of instant noodles here - because the names share a common character in Chinese.
Netizens said that prices of instant noodles are coming down, as a coded message that Zhou was about to be purged.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who criticised Bo on the eve of his sacking, is referred to as Teletubby because his name shares a character with the Chinese
name for the popular children's television series Teletubbies.
And President Hu Jintao has been given the Chinese name for carrot - Hu Luo Bo. Censors have blocked all forms of searches for terms linked to Bo, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
If there were any lingering whispers of a coup, the Chinese military surely snuffed them out yesterday.
General Guo Boxiong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and Politburo member, urged the People's Liberation Army to stay united with the Communist Party, making clear that the military is behind the government.
"We must further unify behind the party central leadership," he told troops in north-western Shaanxi province.
His meeting with visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in Beijing was broadcast on China Central Television's main 7pm news programme.
This follows standard Chinese political protocol, which dictates that the 30- minute bulletin must report on the official activities of all nine members
of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's most powerful governing body. Zhou, 69, is a PSC member.
His meeting was also not unusual. It is normal for senior Chinese leaders to meet officials from countries they have been to in the past. Zhou visited Indonesia in 2008.
It was Zhou's first public appearance since rumours of a coup circulated in Beijing earlier this week, based on speculation that he was unhappy with the sacking of Bo Xilai as Chongqing party secretary last Thursday.
A Financial Times report cited a person with 'close ties to China's security apparatus' as saying that Zhou had been ordered not to make any public appearances or take any high-level meetings, and was "already under some degree of control".
The British paper, citing the same unnamed source, also said that Bo was under house arrest and that his wife had been taken away for investigation into suspected corruption. It could not confirm the information.
Bo, 62, was sacked as Chongqing party secretary but kept his Politburo seat, after his aide Wang Lijun escaped to the US consulate in Chengdu last month. The case remains shrouded in mystery.
But even though there has been no evidence so far that Zhou, who controls the state security apparatus, has been implicated in the scandal, rumours persisted in Beijing.
Analysts rubbished the speculation. "It is impossible for Zhou to publicly disagree with the removal of Bo. The Politburo Standing Committee must have come to a consensus before sacking him. Elite struggles in China still have quite a bit of civility," said Chinese political observer Wang Zhengxu from the University of Nottingham.
"There is also a rumour that even Zeng Qinghong has been detained. That is impossible. China would be in complete chaos if it is true."
Zeng, 72, is a former vice-president who retired in 2007. Most observers believe he still wields significant power behind the scenes.
Such wild speculation has been raging in the Chinese capital over the past week, fuelled largely by the immensely popular microblogs and the absence of credible official news.
The online hysteria peaked with talk of a 'coup', purportedly led by Zhou. There were claims of tanks entering Beijing, security being beefed up on the subway and even of shots fired from the leadership Zhongnanhai compound and Diaoyutai state guest house.
Censors have been scrambling to erase such posts, blocking an ever increasing list of sensitive names, phrases and terms related to the downfall of Bo.
Searches for 'coup' (zhengbian) have also been routinely rejected by China's vast online censorship system known as the Great Firewall.
Chinese Web users have tried to get around these restrictions by referring to the leaders by a variety of names.
Zhou, for instance, is called Master Kong - a brand of instant noodles here - because the names share a common character in Chinese.
Netizens said that prices of instant noodles are coming down, as a coded message that Zhou was about to be purged.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who criticised Bo on the eve of his sacking, is referred to as Teletubby because his name shares a character with the Chinese
name for the popular children's television series Teletubbies.
And President Hu Jintao has been given the Chinese name for carrot - Hu Luo Bo. Censors have blocked all forms of searches for terms linked to Bo, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
If there were any lingering whispers of a coup, the Chinese military surely snuffed them out yesterday.
General Guo Boxiong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and Politburo member, urged the People's Liberation Army to stay united with the Communist Party, making clear that the military is behind the government.
"We must further unify behind the party central leadership," he told troops in north-western Shaanxi province.
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