A formerly powerful backroom operator and one of the top officials in the Chinese Communist Party is now under a form of “internal control,” according to a source with knowledge of the circumstances.
The activities and public appearances of Zeng Qinghong, the official, are being restricted, the source said. Control of Zeng was said to be instituted on orders of Xi Jinping because he came to see Zeng as a threat to his rule and even his life, the source said.
Zeng used to be the vice chairman of China and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the small group of Party leaders that controls the country. Over his decades in the Party’s personnel and back offices he gained a reputation for ruthless politicking and built a large network of political patronage and influence.
Most saliently, Zeng was for close to two decades the right hand man to Jiang Zemin, the Party leader who took charge after the June 4 massacre of 1989 and officially held power in one form or another until 2004. Willy Lam, a longtime political analyst of the Party, describes Zeng as an “alter ego and hatchet man” under Jiang. He was also close to fallen Politburo member Bo Xilai, and the former chief of the security forces Zhou Yongkang.
