Top Chinese official says Xi foiled coup attempt by senior leaders

Top Chinese official discloses that disgraced party colleagues plotted against Xi

Beijing, Oct. 20: Chinese President Xi Jinping has foiled a coup by former political heavyweights who were at the receiving end of his high-profile anti-graft campaign, a top Chinese official has revealed.

Mr Xi, who is set for a second five-year term as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), has saved the party by foiling a coup plot by his detractors, Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission said.

Mr Liu made the stunning disclosure at a meeting on the sidelines of the going once-in-a-five-year congress of the CPC here, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

Speaking at a panel on the sidelines of the 19th CPC Congress here on Thursday, Li has accused a string of disgraced cadres of plotting to seize the reins of power, it reported today.

Among those named was the former party boss of megacity Chongqing, Sun Zhengcai, once a front-runner for a place in the inner circle - the Politburo Standing Committee, who along with his wife were summarily removed by Xi. Both were taken away for disciplinary investigations.

Sun’s fall from grace in July reminded many of the dramatic downfall of one of his predecessors in both Chongqing Bo Xilai, five years ago, ahead of the previous party congress.

Bo who once regarded as rival to Mr Xi five years ago is currently in prison, serving a life sentence.

Rumours have been gripping Beijing over likely fallout of Mr Xi’s massive anticorruption campaign against “tigers and flies” in which former security czar, Zhou Yongkang, Bo and host of top generals have

been put to trials. This is the first time an official disclosed it.

Considering threats faced by him, Mr Xi has been provided with the highest personal security.

Like Bo, Zhou too is serving life term in jail after accepting a host of charges against him. A report said last month that Sun had was expelled from the party and arrested.

— AP In this Thursday photo, video showing Chinese President Xi Jinping handling an assault rifle is shown at an exhibition highlighting China’s achievements under five years of his leadership at the Beijing Exhibition Hall in Beijing.