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| HONG KONG — A politically fraught Communist Party corruption investigation focusing on the former head of the domestic security apparatus, Zhou Yongkang, has reached into the sensitive realm of the Chinese intelligence services, with the detention of a senior official, people close to party and military leaders said this week. | |
| Liang Ke, the director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State Security, was taken into custody last month by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s arm for investigating official misconduct, according to three people who cited information from leaders notified of the decision. They said the allegations against Mr. Liang involved corruption as well as his ties to Mr. Zhou, whose former portfolio included the Ministry of State Security. | Liang Ke, the director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State Security, was taken into custody last month by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s arm for investigating official misconduct, according to three people who cited information from leaders notified of the decision. They said the allegations against Mr. Liang involved corruption as well as his ties to Mr. Zhou, whose former portfolio included the Ministry of State Security. |
| On Friday, the Beijing government announced that Mr. Liang had been replaced but did not say what had happened to him. Questions about Mr. Liang sent to the city’s press office by fax on Thursday were not answered. | On Friday, the Beijing government announced that Mr. Liang had been replaced but did not say what had happened to him. Questions about Mr. Liang sent to the city’s press office by fax on Thursday were not answered. |
| But a former security official and a policy adviser to party leaders, both speaking on the condition of anonymity, said senior officials had told them that Mr. Liang was suspected of aiding Mr. Zhou by illicitly passing on information gathered by the bureau’s network of agents, phone taps and informants in the Chinese capital. | But a former security official and a policy adviser to party leaders, both speaking on the condition of anonymity, said senior officials had told them that Mr. Liang was suspected of aiding Mr. Zhou by illicitly passing on information gathered by the bureau’s network of agents, phone taps and informants in the Chinese capital. |
| “The official message sent down was that Liang Ke was suspected of corruption,” the former security official said. “But as well, Liang Ke was detained because he is suspected of assisting Zhou Yongkang beyond approved means and channels.” | “The official message sent down was that Liang Ke was suspected of corruption,” the former security official said. “But as well, Liang Ke was detained because he is suspected of assisting Zhou Yongkang beyond approved means and channels.” |
| A businessman whose investments bring him in contact with senior police and military officials also confirmed Mr. Liang’s detention, which was said to have occurred in the first half of January. | A businessman whose investments bring him in contact with senior police and military officials also confirmed Mr. Liang’s detention, which was said to have occurred in the first half of January. |
| The detention takes the investigation encircling Mr. Zhou into especially sensitive terrain: The Ministry of State Security and its local bureaus are unaccountable even by China’s standards and rarely discussed in public. In addition to conducting espionage overseas, the service gathers intelligence on officials at home, monitors threats to party control and keeps foreign diplomats and journalists under surveillance. State security officials’ names and comments almost never appear in the media. | The detention takes the investigation encircling Mr. Zhou into especially sensitive terrain: The Ministry of State Security and its local bureaus are unaccountable even by China’s standards and rarely discussed in public. In addition to conducting espionage overseas, the service gathers intelligence on officials at home, monitors threats to party control and keeps foreign diplomats and journalists under surveillance. State security officials’ names and comments almost never appear in the media. |
| Before retiring in November 2012, Mr. Zhou was one of nine men on the Politburo Standing Committee — the party’s top decision-making body — and headed the committee that oversees China’s courts, police and other arms of domestic security. In his five years in those two posts, he accumulated considerable clout as the party made maintaining social stability a top priority and devoted ever greater resources to the security forces under his control. | Before retiring in November 2012, Mr. Zhou was one of nine men on the Politburo Standing Committee — the party’s top decision-making body — and headed the committee that oversees China’s courts, police and other arms of domestic security. In his five years in those two posts, he accumulated considerable clout as the party made maintaining social stability a top priority and devoted ever greater resources to the security forces under his control. |
| The government has not announced any investigation into Mr. Zhou. But people close to senior officials have said that President Xi Jinping and other leaders approved the inquiry late last year. If Mr. Zhou is tried and convicted of corruption, he would be the first former or sitting member of the Politburo Standing Committee to confront such a fate. | The government has not announced any investigation into Mr. Zhou. But people close to senior officials have said that President Xi Jinping and other leaders approved the inquiry late last year. If Mr. Zhou is tried and convicted of corruption, he would be the first former or sitting member of the Politburo Standing Committee to confront such a fate. |
| Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer in Beijing who has been openly critical of Mr. Zhou, said he had heard that Mr. Liang was “in trouble” but added that the secrecy surrounding the domestic intelligence services made it difficult to learn the specific charges against him. | Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer in Beijing who has been openly critical of Mr. Zhou, said he had heard that Mr. Liang was “in trouble” but added that the secrecy surrounding the domestic intelligence services made it difficult to learn the specific charges against him. |
| Still, he described the investigation into Mr. Liang as the latest step in Mr. Xi’s efforts to strengthen his control over an enclave of state power where Mr. Zhou has enjoyed outsize influence, in part appointing his allies to key posts. | Still, he described the investigation into Mr. Liang as the latest step in Mr. Xi’s efforts to strengthen his control over an enclave of state power where Mr. Zhou has enjoyed outsize influence, in part appointing his allies to key posts. |
| “Because the party stressed stability above all, and that became fundamental national policy, his power expanded to overshadow other Standing Committee members, and the police, courts, security authorities became his political resource,” Mr. Pu said. “Xi wants everyone to understand that a new boss is in charge.” | “Because the party stressed stability above all, and that became fundamental national policy, his power expanded to overshadow other Standing Committee members, and the police, courts, security authorities became his political resource,” Mr. Pu said. “Xi wants everyone to understand that a new boss is in charge.” |
| “One after another, the people implicated in Zhou’s case are being picked off,” he added. “I think they’re releasing information about this bit by bit to create the sense that Zhou’s fate is sealed.” | “One after another, the people implicated in Zhou’s case are being picked off,” he added. “I think they’re releasing information about this bit by bit to create the sense that Zhou’s fate is sealed.” |
| Mr. Liang’s detention was first reported by Mingjing News, an overseas Chinese website specializing in news and speculation about party leaders. | Mr. Liang’s detention was first reported by Mingjing News, an overseas Chinese website specializing in news and speculation about party leaders. |
| Mr. Liang has joined a list of Mr. Zhou’s former subordinates and colleagues detained since late 2012. In December, the party announced an investigation of a vice minister for public security, Li Dongsheng, who was appointed while Mr. Zhou was in power. This past week, authorities announced that they were investigating Ji Wenlin, a vice governor of Hainan Province in southern China, who had served as an aide to Mr. Zhou for a decade, moving with him from the Ministry of Land and Resources to Sichuan Province in southwest China and then to the Ministry of Public Security. | Mr. Liang has joined a list of Mr. Zhou’s former subordinates and colleagues detained since late 2012. In December, the party announced an investigation of a vice minister for public security, Li Dongsheng, who was appointed while Mr. Zhou was in power. This past week, authorities announced that they were investigating Ji Wenlin, a vice governor of Hainan Province in southern China, who had served as an aide to Mr. Zhou for a decade, moving with him from the Ministry of Land and Resources to Sichuan Province in southwest China and then to the Ministry of Public Security. |
| Mr. Xi appears determined to make a show of dismantling Mr. Zhou’s influence, said Wu Wei, a former official who closely follows Chinese politics. He said he had heard rumors of Mr. Liang’s detention. “This amounts to pulling out a tiger’s teeth so it turns into a sick cat,” he said. | Mr. Xi appears determined to make a show of dismantling Mr. Zhou’s influence, said Wu Wei, a former official who closely follows Chinese politics. He said he had heard rumors of Mr. Liang’s detention. “This amounts to pulling out a tiger’s teeth so it turns into a sick cat,” he said. |
| Mr. Liang was appointed director of state security for Beijing in 2008, after rising through the ranks of the city bureau, according to a government website. At the time, a report in the Beijing News newspaper said he was 42 and came from Jilin City in northeast China. Since then, few details about his activities have appeared. | Mr. Liang was appointed director of state security for Beijing in 2008, after rising through the ranks of the city bureau, according to a government website. At the time, a report in the Beijing News newspaper said he was 42 and came from Jilin City in northeast China. Since then, few details about his activities have appeared. |
| After Mr. Zhou stepped down in 2012, party anticorruption officials began removing and investigating a succession of officials and company executives who had career links with him. They started in Sichuan Province, where Mr. Zhou was party secretary from 1999 to 2002. The authorities also detained executives, present and previous, of the China National Petroleum Corporation, where Mr. Zhou had risen to become general manager in the 1990s. | After Mr. Zhou stepped down in 2012, party anticorruption officials began removing and investigating a succession of officials and company executives who had career links with him. They started in Sichuan Province, where Mr. Zhou was party secretary from 1999 to 2002. The authorities also detained executives, present and previous, of the China National Petroleum Corporation, where Mr. Zhou had risen to become general manager in the 1990s. |
| After Mr. Zhou retired, his successor in charge of domestic security and law and order was not elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee. | After Mr. Zhou retired, his successor in charge of domestic security and law and order was not elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee. |
| Many political insiders have said senior officials were alarmed by Mr. Zhou’s tenacious support for Bo Xilai, the former Politburo member who last September was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and abuse of power. | Many political insiders have said senior officials were alarmed by Mr. Zhou’s tenacious support for Bo Xilai, the former Politburo member who last September was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and abuse of power. |
| The party investigation of Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liang and others under suspicion may not result in the police filing charges. The police usually take up a criminal investigation only after party disciplinary investigators have finished their inquiry and leaders have recommended such legal proceedings. | The party investigation of Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liang and others under suspicion may not result in the police filing charges. The police usually take up a criminal investigation only after party disciplinary investigators have finished their inquiry and leaders have recommended such legal proceedings. |
| “I hope that Zhou Yongkang is publicly tried,” said Mr. Wu, the former official. “But I have no confidence in that, because the case is so broad and would unleash such big shockwaves.” | “I hope that Zhou Yongkang is publicly tried,” said Mr. Wu, the former official. “But I have no confidence in that, because the case is so broad and would unleash such big shockwaves.” |