Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang | |
|---|---|
| 周永康 | |
 | |
| 6th Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee | |
| In office 22 October 2007 – 21 November 2012 | |
| Deputy | Wang Lequan Meng Jianzhu |
| General secretary | Hu Jintao |
| Preceded by | Luo Gan |
| Succeeded by | Meng Jianzhu |
| Member of the 17th CPC Politburo Standing Committee | |
| In office 22 October 2007 – 15 November 2012 | |
| general secretary | Hu Jintao |
| Minister of Public Security of China | |
| In office December 2002 – October 2007 | |
| Premier | Wen Jiabao |
| Preceded by | Jia Chunwang |
| Succeeded by | Meng Jianzhu |
| Member of the National People's Congress | |
| Assumed office 5 March 1998 | |
| Constituency | Sichuan At-large (98-08) Heilongjiang At-large (08-) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 1942 (age 82) Wuxi, Jiangsu, Republic of China |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
| Zhou Yongkang | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 周永康 | ||||||
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Zhou Yongkang (born December 1942) is a retired senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He served as a member of the elite 17th Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's central decision-making body, as well as the head of the Central Political and Legislative Committee between 2007 and 2012. In that position Zhou oversaw China's security forces and law enforcement institutions, and was considered one of China's most powerful politicians.
Zhou rose through the ranks of the Communist Party thru his involvement in the oil and gas industry, starting as a technician on the Daqing oil field during the Cultural Revolution. He was at the helm of the China National Petroleum Corporation between 1996 and 1998, then became Minister of Land and Natural Resources until 1999, and subsequently party secretary of Sichuan. Zhou was a State Councillor from 2003 to 2008 and also a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee. He served as the Minister of Public Security from 2002 to 2007.
Zhou retired at the 18th Party Congress in 2012. However, it is rumoured that he has been under house arrest for corruption investigation. He may become the biggest'Tiger' to be clamped down in recent Chinese history.
Biography
Born in December 1942, Zhou Yongkang is a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu province. In November 1964 Zhou joined the CPC and joined geological survey work in north-east China in 1966 after the Cultural Revolution broke out.[1] He graduated from the Survey and Exploration Department of Beijing Petroleum Institute majoring in geophysical survey and exploration. As a university graduate he holds the title Senior Engineer with a rank equivalent to that of Professor.[2]
During the 1960s and 70s he spent most of his career in the petroleum industry. By the mid-1980s he was vice minister of the Petroleum Industry, and from 1996 General Manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest energy company.[1][3] In 1998 he was Minister of Land and Resources and in 1999, secretary of the Communist Party of China Sichuan Provincial Committee. During his tenure as Minister of Public Security, he was a reformer of China's policing system, aiming to create a more professional police force, even going as far as to fire several hundred police officers for drinking problems.[4] His time in Sichuan and as Public Security Minister made him noticed by the party's central authority, and in 2007 he was transferred to fill the vacancy from Luo Gan, who retired in the party's political and legislative affairs committee, and was responsible for China's courts, police, paramilitary and various domestic state security and spying agencies.[1] As a result, even though he is ranked last in the PSC's hierarchy, it is not an indication of his actual power.[citation needed]
Several leaked U.S. diplomatic cables from Wikileaks have alleged Zhou's involvement in Beijing's cyber attack against Google,[5] though the claim's veracity has been questioned.[5] Other cables said it was "well-known" that Zhou Yongkang controlled the state monopoly of the oil sector.[6]
In May 2012 the Financial Times reported that Zhou had relinquished the operational control of the party's Political and Legal Affairs Commission to Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu due to his support for former Chinese politician Bo Xilai, and had lost his right to select his successor when he retires from the Politburo Standing Committee in fall 2012.[7] The New York Times later reported that Zhou's status remained unchanged.[8]
In August 2013, the Chinese government opened up a corruption investigation into Zhou as part of a wider anti-graft campaign following Bo Xilai's trial.[9] During 2012 and 2013, more than 10 high ranking bureaus who were Zhou's former subordinates in Zichuan, the central petroleum organization, and the central public security department have been under investigation for corruption. Also, it is rumoured that he has been under house arrest since December 2013.
Personal life
Zhou's son, Zhou Bin, born in 1972, was a prominent oil and gas executive. Zhou Yongkang is married to Jia Xiaoye (Chinese: 贾晓烨), a former reporter at CCTV-2, who is 28 years his junior. Jia is known to maintain a low profile. His first wife was rumoured to be murdered by Zhou's subordinates under Zhou's order.[10]
References
- ^ a b c Jamil Anderlini (20 April 2012). "Bo fallout threatens China's security chief". Financial Times.
- ^ Biography of Zhou Yongkang. China Vitae (22 November 2010). Retrieved on 30 March 2012.
- ^ Hu Jintao, Hu Jin Tao, China who's who, who's who in china, China's Celebrities, Famous Chinese. China Today. Retrieved on 30 March 2012.
- ^ BBC: China's New Leaders. BBC News. Retrieved on 30 March 2012.
- ^ a b Glanz, James; Markoff (4 December 2010). "China's Battle with Google: Vast Hacking by a China Fearful of the Web". New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
{{cite news}}:|first2=missing|last2=(help) - ^ Foster, Peter (6 December 2010). "WikiLeaks: China's Politburo a cabal of business empires". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Bo ally gives up China security roles", Jamil Anderlini, Financial Times, 14 May 2012.
- ^ "China Security Chief Seems to Keep His Hold on Power", Edward Wong, The New York Times, 19 May 2012.
- ^ Ben Blanchard (30 August 2013). "Former China security chief faces corruption probe: report". Reuters.
- ^ Apple Daily (syndicated). "Zhou Yongkang's Current Wife is not related to Jiang (周永康现任夫人北大毕业相貌平平 与江无关(图))". Wenxuecity. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
External links
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