Zhou Yongkang, the highest-ranking Chinese official to fall in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, has been sentenced to life in prison after a secret trial held last month, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday.
Zhou, who once led China’s security services, was convicted of bribery, abuse of power and divulging state secrets three weeks after closed-door proceedings in the port of Tianjin on May 22. State media reported in April that prosecutors had filed formal charges against the former member of the Communist party’s politburo standing committee, raising the prospect of a historic public trial.
The surprise announcement marks the final act in a two-year fall from grace for Zhou, a once formidable figure with his lantern jaw and full head of dyed black hair. The news broke at 6pm local time and was followed an hour later by a broadcast on China’s main evening news programme, which showed the first images of a now white-haired figure who was last seen in public in 2013.