A newspaper with a picture of China's then Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang is seen at a newsstand in Hong Kong July 30, 2014. China's Communist Party said on Tuesday it had launched a corruption investigation into former domestic security chief Zhou, one of the country's most influential politicians of the last decade, in a case that has its origins in a party power struggle.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) 

Books on China's then Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang are displayed at a newsstand in Hong Kong July 30, 2014. China's Communist Party said on Tuesday it had launched a corruption investigation into former domestic security chief Zhou, one of the country's most influential politicians of the last decade, in a case that has its origins in a party power struggle. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) 

China's then Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang (C) walks past Former China's President Hu Jintao (R) and Premier Wen Jiabao as they attend the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, March 3, 2009. Two influential former Chinese leaders gave their consent for President Xi Jinping to investigate ex-domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, sources told Reuters, a sign the corruption probe will not open a rift in the ruling Communist Party. Xi's predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin had approved the formal investigation into Zhou, the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the party swept to power in 1949, two sources with ties to the leadership said. Picture taken on March 3, 2009. To match Exclusive CHINA-CORRUPTION/ REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) 

China's former Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang reacts as he attends the Hebei delegation discussion sessions at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing October 16, 2007. Few figures are as divisive in China as former domestic security tsar Zhou, reportedly under investigation by the ruling Communist Party for corruption. Even the once ambitious but now ousted politician Bo Xilai, whose trial on corruption ended on August 26, 2013, doesn't evoke the same depth of feeling that Zhou does. From the oil fields of frigid northeastern China, the hulking Zhou worked his way up to the elite Politburo Standing Committee, where his spending on domestic security exceeded the separate budgets for defence, healthcare or education. Picture taken October 16, 2007. To match story CHINA-POLITICS/ZHOU REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) 

Then China's Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang waves during a meeting with the media at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 22, 2007. Few figures are as divisive in China as former domestic security tsar Zhou, reportedly under investigation by the ruling Communist Party for corruption. Even the once ambitious but now ousted politician Bo Xilai, whose trial on corruption ended on August 26, 2013, doesn't evoke the same depth of feeling that Zhou does. From the oil fields of frigid northeastern China, the hulking Zhou worked his way up to the elite Politburo Standing Committee, where his spending on domestic security exceeded the separate budgets for defence, healthcare or education. Picture taken October 22, 2007. To match story CHINA-POLITICS/ZHOU REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS) 

Then China's Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang attends Hebei delegation discussion sessions at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing October 16, 2007. Few figures are as divisive in China as former domestic security tsar Zhou, reportedly under investigation by the ruling Communist Party for corruption. Even the once ambitious but now ousted politician Bo Xilai, whose trial on corruption ended on August 26, 2013, doesn't evoke the same depth of feeling that Zhou does. From the oil fields of frigid northeastern China, the hulking Zhou worked his way up to the elite Politburo Standing Committee, where his spending on domestic security exceeded the separate budgets for defence, healthcare or education. Picture taken October 16, 2007. To match story CHINA-POLITICS/ZHOU REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS) 

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. China's senior leadership has agreed to open a corruption investigation into Zhou, one of China's most powerful politicians in the past decade, stepping up its anti-graft campaign, the South China Morning Post reported on August 30, 2013. Picture taken March 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) 

China's Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang (R) meets with the senior leaders of the Nepali Congress in Kathmandu August 16, 2011. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Zhou will hold talks on economic cooperation and sign at least six agreements with Nepali authorities on loan and economic cooperation, according to local media. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar (NEPAL - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) 

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (L) shakes hand with Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 20, 2010. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS) 

China's Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang gestures as he attends Hebei delegation discussion sessions of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing October 16, 2007. The country's top cop credited with creating a more professional and powerful police force, Zhou, 64, a former oil company boss, is touted to replace hardline security tsar Luo Gan, who at 72 is to retire. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA) 

He Guoqiang (R), head of the Party's organisation department which is in charge of personnel changes, talks with China's Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang during the opening ceremony of the 17th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 15, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA) 

CHINA-CORRUPTION C - Reissue. Shows circle of allies and associates of former security chief Zhou Yongkang