Crisis closes in on China's inner circle

Zhou Yongkang, a member of China's ruling Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) and head of the country's 1.5 million-strong police force, is the latest and most senior leader to fall in the battle for control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) if rumors of his downfall have any substance. It was certainly a fall foretold.

Rumors late last week of Zhou's crash from grace came after talk of an attempted coup in Beijing last Monday night or early on Tuesday, supposedly linked to his protege Bo Xilai, former party boss of the strategically important Chongqing municipality and until his dismissal this month a contender to succeed Zhou on the PSC when he steps down in November.

Bo's dismissal, announced on March 14, was "the most important political event in China in more than two decades"; that is, since the party schism that opened over the crackdown of Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. He is now reportedly under arrest, though still a member of the 25-strong politburo, the stepping stone to the PSC. Any denunciation of Zhou would overshadow those events by a large margin. Read More