China’s former state security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, leaked state secrets to a fortune teller by the name of Cao Yongzheng.
Cao was introduced to Zhou Yongkang through his eldest son, Zhou Bin, in 2000 and won Zhou’s trust by mentoring his younger son Zhuo Han.
Cao, pictured, one of Zhou’s close associates, reportedly played multiple roles including qigong master, fortune teller, businessman and spiritual adviser in his dealings with Zhou.
The court said Zhou handed over six confidential documents to Cao in violation of state secrecy law.
The public are speculating what state secrets were contained in the documents leaked by Zhou. According to Hong Kong-based Mirror Media CEO Ho Pin, Zhou disclosed information about national economic policies and personnel arrangement to Cao to assist the latter in running his business and colluding with officials.
Cao established China Niandai Energy Investment Company to engage in oil dealings with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the power-base of Zhou and his allies. Former Sichuan province deputy party chief, Li Chuncheng, and former CNPC boss Jiang Jiemin were asked by Zhou to assist Cao’s business, according to the court.
Zhou has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, abuse of power and leaking state secrets. Cao, who testified against Zhou in a closed door trial, has not been charged.
Sources: Xinhua News (新华网), VOA Chinese, Lianhe Zaobao (联合早报)
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Hui Zhi is the Senior Manager for Content with the China Compliance Digest, where a version of this post first appeared.
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