China arrests ex-security chief for corruption, leaking secrets

By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING Fri Dec 5, 2014 10:51pm EST

China's former Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang attends the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 14, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have arrested former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang and expelled him from the ruling Communist Party, accusing him of crimes ranging from accepting bribes to leaking state secrets and setting the stage for his trial.
Zhou, 71, is by far the highest-profile figure caught up in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption.
He is also the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the Communists swept to power in 1949 and the highest-ranking to be prosecuted since the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976 following the Cultural Revolution.
In a terse statement released by the official Xinhua news agency at midnight into Saturday, the party's elite, decision-making Politburo said Zhou's case had been handed over to judicial authorities.
The party began its probe into Zhou, one of China's most powerful politicians of the last decade, in July, following months of rumors and speculation that he was in trouble.
"The investigation found that Zhou seriously violated the party's political, organizational and confidentiality discipline," Xinhua said.
"He took advantage of his posts to seek profits for others and accepted huge bribes personally and through his family.
"He abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets," the report said.
Zhou also leaked party and state secrets, took money and property either himself or through his relatives, Xinhua said, without providing details.
In a common accusation used to discredit fallen officials, Xinhua said Zhou had committed adultery with a number of women and had "traded his power for sex and money".
DEADLY TUMOR
Xi has warned, like others before him, that corruption is such a serious problem it threatens the party's survival.
"(Corruption) is a tumor eating away at the party's health and its resolute excision is a necessary demand to uphold the party's character, aims and leadership and to consolidate the party's power and basis for exercising that power," the People's Daily wrote in a commentary on its website on Saturday.
Zhou was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee - China's apex of power - from 2007 to 2012, and headed the central Political and Legal Affairs Committee, a sprawling body that oversees law and order policy.
The security apparatus expanded during his watch and consumed a budget that exceeded the official figure for military spending. He quickly earned the enmity of Chinese dissidents.
He was last seen in public more than a year ago. It was not possible to reach him for comment and it was not clear whether he has a lawyer.
Several of his allies have been put under investigation in recent months, including Jiang Jiemin, former top regulator of state-owned enterprises, as well as Zhou's son Zhou Bin.
It is unclear whether Zhou Yongkang will receive an open trial and the midnight release of the news underscored the limits of the party's transparency in such ultra-sensitive cases. Legal experts say the party runs a risk of Zhou threatening to reveal state secrets if he gets an open trial.
HUNTING "TIGERS"
Sources with ties to China's leadership have previously told Reuters that Xi was determined to bring down Zhou for allegedly plotting appointments to retain influence ahead of the 18th Party Congress in November 2012, when Xi took over the party.
Zhou had nominated Bo Xilai, a charismatic politician with leadership ambitions, to succeed him as domestic security chief and had tried to orchestrate the younger man's promotion to the Standing Committee, the sources have said.
Bo later fell in a divisive scandal following accusations that his wife had murdered a British businessman in 2011. Bo's wife was convicted over the killing and Bo himself was jailed for corruption and abuse of power last year.
Xi has made fighting pervasive graft a central theme of his rule and has promised to go after "tigers" - senior officials - as well as those of lower rank who are implicated in corruption.
A key meeting of party leaders in October focused on "governing the country by law" and a propaganda campaign has followed, in part, sources told Reuters, to pave the way for Zhou's arrest.
"The message is 'This is rule by law. This is not political persecution'," said one source.
Zhou's arrest was "a full stop" on the anti-corruption campaign for the year that would "help to prevent silly thinking and crazy talk among the people" about its effectiveness, the source said.
In ordering the investigation of Zhou, Xi has broken with an unwritten understanding that members of the Politburo Standing Committee would not come under such scrutiny after retirement.
Sources have told Reuters that Xi's predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin had approved the formal investigation into Zhou.
Former top leaders in China usually wield a lot of influence behind the scenes in a political system that prizes consensus decision-making. Both Jiang and Hu, as former presidents and heads of the party, also still have allies installed in office.
(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones and Alex Richardson)

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China arrests ex-security chief for corruption, leaking secrets

By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING Fri Dec 5, 2014 10:51pm EST

China's former Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang attends the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 14, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have arrested former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang and expelled him from the ruling Communist Party, accusing him of crimes ranging from accepting bribes to leaking state secrets and setting the stage for his trial.
Zhou, 71, is by far the highest-profile figure caught up in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption.
He is also the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the Communists swept to power in 1949 and the highest-ranking to be prosecuted since the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976 following the Cultural Revolution.
In a terse statement released by the official Xinhua news agency at midnight into Saturday, the party's elite, decision-making Politburo said Zhou's case had been handed over to judicial authorities.
The party began its probe into Zhou, one of China's most powerful politicians of the last decade, in July, following months of rumors and speculation that he was in trouble.
"The investigation found that Zhou seriously violated the party's political, organizational and confidentiality discipline," Xinhua said.
"He took advantage of his posts to seek profits for others and accepted huge bribes personally and through his family.
"He abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets," the report said.
Zhou also leaked party and state secrets, took money and property either himself or through his relatives, Xinhua said, without providing details.
In a common accusation used to discredit fallen officials, Xinhua said Zhou had committed adultery with a number of women and had "traded his power for sex and money".
DEADLY TUMOR
Xi has warned, like others before him, that corruption is such a serious problem it threatens the party's survival.
"(Corruption) is a tumor eating away at the party's health and its resolute excision is a necessary demand to uphold the party's character, aims and leadership and to consolidate the party's power and basis for exercising that power," the People's Daily wrote in a commentary on its website on Saturday.
Zhou was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee - China's apex of power - from 2007 to 2012, and headed the central Political and Legal Affairs Committee, a sprawling body that oversees law and order policy.
The security apparatus expanded during his watch and consumed a budget that exceeded the official figure for military spending. He quickly earned the enmity of Chinese dissidents.
He was last seen in public more than a year ago. It was not possible to reach him for comment and it was not clear whether he has a lawyer.
Several of his allies have been put under investigation in recent months, including Jiang Jiemin, former top regulator of state-owned enterprises, as well as Zhou's son Zhou Bin.
It is unclear whether Zhou Yongkang will receive an open trial and the midnight release of the news underscored the limits of the party's transparency in such ultra-sensitive cases. Legal experts say the party runs a risk of Zhou threatening to reveal state secrets if he gets an open trial.
HUNTING "TIGERS"
Sources with ties to China's leadership have previously told Reuters that Xi was determined to bring down Zhou for allegedly plotting appointments to retain influence ahead of the 18th Party Congress in November 2012, when Xi took over the party.
Zhou had nominated Bo Xilai, a charismatic politician with leadership ambitions, to succeed him as domestic security chief and had tried to orchestrate the younger man's promotion to the Standing Committee, the sources have said.
Bo later fell in a divisive scandal following accusations that his wife had murdered a British businessman in 2011. Bo's wife was convicted over the killing and Bo himself was jailed for corruption and abuse of power last year.
Xi has made fighting pervasive graft a central theme of his rule and has promised to go after "tigers" - senior officials - as well as those of lower rank who are implicated in corruption.
A key meeting of party leaders in October focused on "governing the country by law" and a propaganda campaign has followed, in part, sources told Reuters, to pave the way for Zhou's arrest.
"The message is 'This is rule by law. This is not political persecution'," said one source.
Zhou's arrest was "a full stop" on the anti-corruption campaign for the year that would "help to prevent silly thinking and crazy talk among the people" about its effectiveness, the source said.
In ordering the investigation of Zhou, Xi has broken with an unwritten understanding that members of the Politburo Standing Committee would not come under such scrutiny after retirement.
Sources have told Reuters that Xi's predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin had approved the formal investigation into Zhou.
Former top leaders in China usually wield a lot of influence behind the scenes in a political system that prizes consensus decision-making. Both Jiang and Hu, as former presidents and heads of the party, also still have allies installed in office.
(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones and Alex Richardson)

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Amazon chief: I've made 'billions of dollars of failures'

Credit: James Martin/CNET
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos remains unapologetic over the firm's poor financial results, and is not yet ready to give up on the Fire Phone.
At a rare public appearance on Tuesday, Bezos noted at a conference in New York that he spends only six hours a year on investor relations, despite shareholders becoming increasingly unhappy about the online retail giant's spending habits, lack of transparency and financial results.
As noted by Reuters, the company's shares have fallen by over 18 percent this year, despite a rise in the Nasdaq.
In October, Amazon reported third quarter financial results which fell below investor expectations. The e-commerce giant reported a net loss of $437 million, or 95 cents per share, while Wall Street predicted a loss of 76 cents per share on revenue of at least $20.84 billion.
At the conference, Bezos commented:

"We are a large company, but we are also still a start-up. There is a lot of volatility in start-ups."

The Amazon chief defended the firm's culture and willingness to splash out on new projects, even if they turn out to be tech turkeys like the Fire Phone. The Fire flop resulted in Amazon taking a $170 million charge "primarily related to Fire phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs."
In October, Amazon executive David Limp admitted that the mobile device's price point may have been to blame, especially as a late contender in the smartphone arena -- already dominated by the likes of Apple and Samsung.
As reported by Re/Code, Bezos did not label the mobile device a failure, but said "it’s going to take several iterations" before he can judge the project properly, and that his judgement on the project should be sought "in some number of years."
"I have made billions of dollars of failures at Amazon.com [...] literally," Bezos said. "You might remember Pets.com or Kozmo. None of those things are fun. They also don't matter. Companies that don't continue to experiment, companies that don't embrace failure, eventually get desperate."
On Monday, investor service Moody's downgraded its outlook on Amazon to negative from stable, issuing the retailer the Baa1 senior unsecured rating. The company cited upcoming debt through the issue of new senior unsecured notes as a primary reason for the downgrade.
Moody's Vice President Charlie O'Shea commented:

"Proceeds are to be used for general corporate purposes in support of Amazon's myriad growth initiatives, and it is Moody's expectation that the funds will not be utilized for any form of shareholder returns."

While Moody's rating is just three notches above junk, Standard and Poor's does not agree with the firm's rating, and has given Amazon a double-A-minus grade, which is four notches higher.
Read on: In the enterprise

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Kabul police chief quits after South African family die in Taliban attack

By Kay Johnson and Jessica Donati
KABUL Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:43am EST

1 of 2. Smoke and fire rise from a foreign aid workers' guest house after a Taliban attack in Kabul November 29, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani
KABUL (Reuters) - The Kabul police chief resigned on Sunday after Taliban gunmen killed three members of a South African family in the capital, while officials said Afghan forces had ousted insurgents trying to seize former U.S. and British base Camp Bastion in the south.
Taliban fighters breached the perimeter of Camp Bastion in the southern Afghan province of Helmand three days ago, just one month after the base was handed over to the Afghan army.
The latest Taliban attacks have dented confidence in the country's security force and added to concern the police and army will struggle to hold strategic territory after most foreign troops pull out at the end of 2014.
The guest house attacked by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday, the third attack on a foreign guest house in 10 days, was home to staff of the U.S.-based charity Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD).
PAD said on its website that three people were killed by insurgents who used guns and explosives. They were identified as members of the same South African family - a father and his two teenage children - by a colleague of the mother, who was not in the compound at the time.
The family had lived in Afghanistan for nearly 12 years, with the father running the charity and the mother working as a doctor at a Kabul clinic, the colleague said.
The Taliban said on Saturday they had attacked the foreign guesthouse because they believed it to be a Christian center. This was the second time this year the Taliban targeted a group that it said had links to Christianity.
The 17-year-old son had been applying to universities in the United States, while his sister was 14, according to their mother's colleague, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.
Kabul's police spokesman declined to comment on the reason for the chief's resignation.
"We can only confirm... he will not continue his job as police chief anymore," Hashmat Stanekzai said.
PAD, which supports education in Afghanistan, could not be reached immediately for comment.
Violence across Afghanistan has surged this year as the Taliban and their allies have stepped up their activities ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most international troops by the end of next month.
Over the past 10 days, three compounds used by foreign organizations have been hit by armed attackers. In separate attacks in Kabul, two American soldiers, two British embassy workers and dozens of Afghan civilians have died.
In Helmand province, Afghan soldiers ousted a group of Taliban from Camp Bastion after a third day of fighting. At least five soldiers were killed in the battle that started late on Thursday.
By Sunday, troops were clearing the part of the sprawling base that had been seized by a few dozen insurgents, according to the governor's spokesman, Omar Zwak.
Violence in another part of Helmand added to the weekend toll, Zwak said, with 12 soldiers dying in Sangin district after their smaller outpost was attacked.
(This story has been refiled to fix layout of third paragraph, no change to text)
(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Richard Borsuk and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Israel names new chief for its armed forces

AppId is over the quota
JERUSALEM Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:13am EST

Major-General Gadi Eisenkot attends the annual memorial ceremony for Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in Sde Boker November 27, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Amir Cohen
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Saturday announced the appointment of a new chief of staff of its armed forces, Major-General Gadi Eisenkot, who has spent much of his operational career confronting Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon.
Eisenkot, 54, currently deputy to incumbent chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, will take over in February when Gantz completes his four-year term.
Eisenkot was the senior commander of forces along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Syria and among a several other top positions, served as military attache to former prime minister Ehud Barak.
Described by top officers as a level-headed, quiet thinker, Eisenkot rose through the ranks in the infantry. Apart from commanding forces along the southern Lebanon border, in more junior roles he also led troops in the occupied West Bank.
In an interview in 2008, Eisenkot warned that Israel would use "disproportionate" force to destroy Lebanese villages from which Hezbollah guerrillas would fire rockets at its cities in any future war. He later clarified that the civilian population should be evacuated before such an attack.
During a month-long war in 2006, Israel accused Hezbollah of firing rockets from civilian homes in southern Lebanon, as did human rights groups which also criticized Israel for using excessive force resulting the deaths of civilians.
"Eisenkot has been picked from a group of excellent generals to lead the military in the complex defensive challenges that Israel faces. On behalf of all Israel's citizens, I wish him success," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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