Senior Chinese official credits Xi Jinping with thwarting a coup

Liu said that the CPC had resolved the problem of corruption after President Xi assumed office five years ago.

Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Liu Shiyu attends a news conference at The Great Hall Of The People in Beijing on Thursday.

A senior Chinese official has credited President Xi Jinping of thwarting a coup — shedding new light on the arrest of six so- called “Tigers” under a national anti-corruption campaign.

The Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Liu Shiyu asserted on Thursday that China’s imprisoned former security Czar, Zhou Yongkang and former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai, who is also behind bars, had plotted to “usurp the party and seize power.”

Mr. Bo had stepped down in 2012 and has since been jailed for corruption.

Other heavyweights arrested under President Xi’s anti-corruption drive include two former Vice Chairmen of the apex Central Military Commission (CMC) — Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. The others are Ling Jihua, a former top adviser of former President Hu Jintao and Sun Zhengcai, also a Chongqing Party Secretary, who had been appointed in the aftermath of the fall of Bo Xilai. Mr. Sun was expelled from his post and the party for corruption this year.

“What is more important is the investigation and handling of Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, Ling Jihua, Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong and Sun Zhengcai,” Mr. Liu said during a panel discussion held on the sidelines of the on-going twice-a decade, 19th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

“Their crimes of corruption as well as usurping the party and seizing power were scary. The Party Central Committee with comrade Xi as the core saved the party, the army and the country, and, in a global scope, also saved socialism,” the Hong Kong based The Standard newspaper quoted him as saying.

Mr. Liu said that the CPC had resolved the problem of corruption after President Xi assumed office five years ago.

Mr. Liu’s revelation appeared to amplify the remarks by China’s anti-corruption head Wang Qishan. During a speech to party members, published last December, People’s Daily, China’s state newspaper quoted him as saying: “More seriously, some even sought to... seize party and state power, engaging in activities to split the party, and seriously threatening the nation’s political stability.”