First off, a letter has been circulating on Weibo and other Chinese sites that called explicitly for the removal of the country’s security boss, Zhou Yongkang, and a top propaganda official, Liu Yunshan (searches for any of the terms related to the petition are now blocked on Weibo). The letter clearly accuses Zhou of supporting the ousted Bo Xilai's more brutal policies, something we'd heard multiple times before.

The original letter can be seen here. We've attached a very rough translation (via Google Translate) at the bottom of the post, and its worth reading because of its damning tone.

Perhaps this wouldn't be so surprising if it wasn't for the positions of the 16 signers — all retired mid-level Communist party bosses from the province of Yunnan, the New York Times reports, and because Zhou is a member of the nine-member standing committee — the highest echelons of Chines power. This really seems like an unprecendented affront.