224-842: Zhou Yongkang (born December 3, 1942) is a former senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's highest decision-making body, and the Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission ( Zhengfawei ) between 2007 and 2012, making him one of the most powerful leaders in China. In that position, Zhou oversaw China's security apparatus and law enforcement institutions, with power stretching into courts, prosecution agencies, police forces, paramilitary forces, and intelligence organs. He
448-507: A wide range of serious social problems . To address these, Hu introduced two main ideological concepts: the " Scientific Outlook on Development " and " Harmonious Society ". Hu resigned from his post as CCP general secretary and Chairman of the CMC at the 18th National Congress held in 2012, and was succeeded in both posts by Xi Jinping. Since taking power, Xi has initiated a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign , while centralizing powers in
672-461: A "sinister" attempt to oppose the party and advance revisionism. Mao promptly endorsed Nie's poster as "the first Marxist big-character poster in China". Approved by Mao, the poster rippled across educational institutions. Students began to revolt against their school's party establishments. Classes were cancelled in Beijing primary and secondary schools, followed by a decision on 13 June to expand
896-511: A city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiang's arrival, he turned on them, massacring 5,000 with the aid of the Green Gang . Chiang's army then marched on Wuhan but was prevented from taking the city by CCP General Ye Ting and his troops. Chiang's allies also attacked communists; for example, in Beijing, Li Dazhao and 19 other leading communists were executed by Zhang Zuolin . Angered by these events,
1120-629: A complex network of patronage. In 2007, Zhou was transferred to fill the vacancy from Luo Gan, who retired from his leadership position as central Zhengfawei chief. With this powerful position, Zhou also gained a spot on the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest council of Communist Party rulers. With the expansion of Zhengfawei authority in the preceding years, Zhou became the top official responsible for China's courts, law enforcement, prosecution agencies, paramilitary forces, and domestic intelligence agencies. Even though he
1344-567: A corrupt emperor. While Mao initially praised the play, in February 1965, he secretly commissioned his wife Jiang Qing and Shanghai propagandist Yao Wenyuan to publish an article criticizing it. Yao described the play as an allegory attacking Mao; flagging Mao as the emperor, and Peng Dehuai, who had previously questioned Mao during the Lushan Conference , as the honest civil servant. Yao's article put Beijing mayor Peng Zhen on
1568-603: A far-reaching revolutionary coalition, one that displaced existing Red Guard groups. On January 3, 1967, with support from CRG heavyweights Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan, the group of firebrand activists overthrew the Shanghai municipal government under Chen Pixian in what became known as the January Storm , and formed in its place the Shanghai People's Commune . Mao then expressed his approval. Shanghai's
1792-630: A former deputy party secretary in Sichuan; Jiang Jiemin , former chief executive of China Petroleum; Li Dongsheng , former deputy minister of Public Security; Ji Wenlin , Mayor of Haikou and Zhou's former secretary; and Li Chongxi, a high-ranking official in Sichuan province. His former secretaries (i.e., directors of his office, chief of staff) Li Hualin , Shen Dingcheng , and Guo Yongxiang were all detained. In December, Zhou, his son Zhou Bin and his daughter-in-law Huang Wan were taken into custody. The home of Zhou's younger brother Zhou Yuanxing ( 周元兴 )
2016-433: A head of fully gray hair, in contrast to his combed jet black hair dye he was known for prior to his retirement. Overseas media had compared Zhou's trial to that of Bo Xilai two years earlier, which was noted for being unusually open. In contrast to Bo, Zhou did not appear to dispute his charges. Bo, for the most part, denied his guilt and blamed much of the misdeeds he was accused of on his associates and his family. Zhou, on
2240-412: A highly influential force in provincial politics until the anti-corruption campaign at the end of 2012, which saw all of Zhou's proteges fall from grace. Zhou's political fate was subject to rife speculation in the lead-up to the 16th Party Congress held in the fall of 2002. Widely regarded as a rising political star, Zhou was said to be a leading candidate for Vice-Premier or entry into the top ranks of
2464-544: A leading post in the Zhengfawei . The intent of the reforms were to make decisions about policing, investigations, and the court system more efficient in an era of more pronounced social conflict. However, in practice the reforms gave party and government policy makers, who were not constitutionally empowered to serve day-to-day executive duties, an avenue to directly intervene in domestic security concerns, such as using force to crack down on "mass incidents". In addition, that
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#17327827471052688-708: A letter penned to the Human Rights Council supporting the policies as an effort to combat terrorism in the region. Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the CCP's founding , one of the Two Centenaries , took place on 1 July 2021. In the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee in November 2021, CCP adopted a resolution on the Party's history , which for the first time credited Xi as being
2912-621: A limited counteroffensive by the CCP. The objective was clearing "Central China, strengthening North China, and recovering Northeast China." This operation, coupled with military desertions from the KMT, resulted in the KMT losing 2 million of its 3 million troops by the spring of 1948, and saw a significant decline in support for KMT rule. The CCP was consequently able to cut off KMT garrisons in Manchuria and retake several territories. The last stage, lasting from September 1948 to December 1949, saw
3136-653: A member of the company's senior executive team and was named deputy general manager. In March 1989, as part of the government's overall strategy to move oil production from east to west, Zhou led an oil and gas exploration and survey team to begin work in the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang region of far-west China, near the city of Korla . In the mid-1990s, Zhou spearheaded CNPC's "go global" initiatives, winning bids for large projects in Sudan, Venezuela, and Kazakhstan. Zhou
3360-411: A million Red Guards from across the country gathered in and around Tiananmen Square for an audience with the chairman. Mao mingled with Red Guards and encouraged them, donning a Red Guard armband. Lin also took centre stage, denouncing perceived enemies in society that were impeding the "progress of the revolution". Subsequently, violence escalated in Beijing and quickly spread. The 18 August rally
3584-463: A miracle. Western capitalism has suffered reversals, a financial crisis, a credit crisis, a crisis of confidence, and their self-conviction has wavered. Western countries have begun to reflect, and openly or secretively compare themselves against China's politics, economy and path." — Xi Jinping , on the inevitability of socialism The CCP views the world as organized into two opposing camps; socialist and capitalist. They insist that socialism, on
3808-538: A more manageable level, but railing against corruption was also a proven instrument for political consolidation, and at the highest levels Xi has deployed it largely against his opponents. Geremie Barme, the historian who heads the Australian Centre on China in the World, analyzed the forty-eight most high-profile arrests, and discovered that none of them were second-generation reds ." In the days leading up to
4032-597: A national campaign for xinfang petitioners to "speak directly with the police chief", aimed at creating a more effective means to address petitioner grievances. As part of this campaign, the number of petitions and their response rates were tied to financial and career advancement consequences for local officials. As a result, many local authorities hired thugs and private security firms to detain, harass, beat, or otherwise discourage petitioners from filing their grievances. It spawned an entire industry of private security firms specializing in petitioners, as well as an increase in
4256-455: A national security & law enforcement system that operated with no meaningful external oversight and operating independently from government organs and the party's collective leadership. As a result of his vast state security "empire" as well as strong remnants of his influence in the national oil sector and Sichuan, Zhou was ranked 29th in the 2011 Forbes list of the world's most powerful people . Chinese rights activists, such as members of
4480-418: A new stage in the development of the socialist revolution in our country:" Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds and endeavour to stage a comeback. The proletariat must do the exact opposite: it must meet head-on every challenge of the bourgeoisie ... to change
4704-600: A rally was held at the Great Hall of the People to announce the decision and reveal the tone of the movement to teachers and students. At the rally, Party leaders encouraged the masses to 'not be afraid' and take charge of the movement, free of Party interference. The work-teams issue marked a decisive defeat for Liu; it also signaled that disagreement over how to handle the CR's unfolding events would irreversibly split Mao from
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#17327827471054928-490: A report known as the February Outline . The Outline as sanctioned by the party center defined Hai Rui as a constructive academic discussion and aimed to distance Peng Zhen formally from any political implications. However, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan continued their denunciations. Meanwhile, Mao sacked Propaganda Department director Lu Dingyi , a Peng ally. Lu's removal gave Maoists unrestricted access to
5152-535: A reputation for dealing firmly with any signs of dissent – coming down hard on Tibetan groups and Falun Gong . Although Zhou left Sichuan to take up national leadership positions in Beijing in 2002, he cultivated a strong power base of patronage. The elite provincial political circles were stacked with Zhou's allies, the most notable being deputy provincial party committee Secretary Li Chongxi , Chengdu party boss Li Chuncheng , and chief administrator Guo Yongxiang . Indeed, Zhou's network of patronage in Sichuan remained
5376-408: A result of the wealth imbalance created by the post-Mao era economic reform policies. At the turn of the century, "mass incidents" – a catch-all euphemism that could refer to any organized or spontaneous protests of social, political, economic, or religious nature – had become commonplace across the country. In response, Beijing mandated sweeping structural reforms that significantly elevated
5600-512: A series of powerful posts in the party and government within the span of a few months, including membership in the Politburo , State Councilor , Deputy Zhengfawei Secretary, First Political Commissar of the People's Armed Police (China's paramilitary police force), and Secretary of the party's Central Secretariat (the party's internal policy execution and coordination body). Zhou's assuming
5824-417: A severe reversal of progress." Several leaked U.S. diplomatic cables from Wikileaks have alleged Zhou's involvement in Beijing's cyber attack against Google , though the claim's veracity has been questioned. Other cables said it was "well-known" that Zhou Yongkang controlled the state monopoly of the oil sector. Zhou also served as China's 'high representative' in matters relating to North Korea, attending
6048-457: A study that no " Princelings " have been investigated in the anti-corruption campaign. He Pin (何频), the chief editor of the overseas Chinese news portal Mingjing , went one step further and asserted plainly that Zhou fell because he was engaged in a political conspiracy to depose Xi Jinping. In contrast, The New York Times did not speculate on political reasons behind Zhou's arrest, simply writing that ordinary Chinese people may be alarmed that
6272-513: A subsidiary of Sinopec . His visit to Suzhou High School also marked his final pilgrimage to his hometown. During this visit, Zhou suggested that it might be his last visit home. At his visit to the China University of Petroleum campus, Zhou publicly 'pledged his allegiance' to Xi Jinping , China's new leader, rallying students to unite behind Xi to pursue the " Chinese Dream ". The new party leadership under Xi reportedly began planning
6496-427: A time when almost all mass organizations claimed to be "leftist" or "revolutionary". PLA commanders had developed close working relations with the party establishment, leading many military units to repress radicals. Spurred by the events in Beijing, power seizure groups formed across the country and began expanding into factories and the countryside. In Shanghai, a young factory worker named Wang Hongwen organized
6720-450: A topic of controversy later. In May 1966, an expanded session of the Politburo was called in Beijing. The conference was laden with Maoist political rhetoric on class struggle and filled with meticulously prepared 'indictments' of recently ousted leaders such as Peng Zhen and Luo Ruiqing . One of these documents, distributed on 16 May, was prepared with Mao's personal supervision and was particularly damning: Those representatives of
6944-717: A total clampdown by the Portuguese government. The event set in motion Portugal's de facto abdication of control over Macau, putting Macau on the path to eventual absorption by China. By the beginning of 1967, a wide variety of grassroots political organizations had formed. Beyond Red Guard and student rebel groups, these included poor peasant associations, workers' pickets, and Mao Zedong Thought study societies, among others. Communist Party leaders encouraged these groups to "join up", and these groups joined various coalitions and held various cross-group congresses and assemblies. Mass organizations coalesced into two hostile factions,
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7168-474: A very poor grasp of what Xi was actually trying to achieve, and that Zhou's downfall was, but a small element of a larger campaign by Xi Jinping to clean up the party, institutionalize power structures, and re-build the party's legitimacy. According to The New Yorker profile of Xi, "corruption had become so threatening to the Party’s legitimacy that only the most isolated leader could have avoided forcing it back to
7392-568: A visit by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger . Hu Jintao was reportedly fully supportive of investigating Zhou prior to the power transition to Xi Jinping at the 18th Party Congress. Zhou himself reportedly sought two audiences with Xi, during which he discussed his contributions to the country and attempted to plead clemency, to no avail. In August 2013, the Party began a corruption investigation into Zhou. A number of Zhou's former subordinates who were then in high-ranking positions were sacked in quick succession. These included Li Chuncheng,
7616-409: Is a largely separate group of professionalized military officers, serving under top CCP leadership largely through formal relationships within institutional channels. The CCP ratified Jiang's Three Represents concept for the 2003 revision of the party's constitution, as a "guiding ideology" to encourage the party to represent "advanced productive forces, the progressive course of China's culture, and
7840-415: Is considerable optimism within the CCP that despite the current capitalist dominance of globalization, globalization can be turned into a vehicle supporting socialism. While foreign analysts generally agree that the CCP has rejected orthodox Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought (or at least basic thoughts within orthodox thinking), the CCP itself disagrees. Critics of the CCP argue that Jiang Zemin ended
8064-413: Is identified with a distinct extension of the ideology of the party. Historians have studied various periods in the development of the government of the People's Republic of China by reference to these "generations". Marxism–Leninism was the first official ideology of the CCP. According to the CCP, "Marxism–Leninism reveals the universal laws governing the development of history of human society ." To
8288-654: Is organized based on democratic centralism , a principle that entails open policy discussion on the condition of unity among party members in upholding the agreed-upon decision. The highest body of the CCP is the National Congress , convened every fifth year. When the National Congress is not in session, the Central Committee is the highest body, but since that body usually only meets once a year, most duties and responsibilities are vested in
8512-637: Is placed on you ... The world belongs to you. China's future belongs to you. During the Red August of Beijing, on August 8, 1966, the party's General Committee passed its "Decision Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," later to be known as the "Sixteen Points". This decision defined the Cultural Revolution as "a great revolution that touches people to their very souls and constitutes
8736-415: Is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity". Jiang Zemin supported Deng's thinking, and stated in a party gathering that it did not matter if a certain mechanism was capitalist or socialist, because the only thing that mattered was whether it worked. It was at this gathering that Jiang Zemin introduced
8960-580: Is the early or first stage of communism." Some have dismissed the concept of a primary stage of socialism as intellectual cynicism. For example, Robert Lawrence Kuhn , a former foreign adviser to the Chinese government, stated: "When I first heard this rationale, I thought it more comic than clever—a wry caricature of hack propagandists leaked by intellectual cynics. But the 100-year horizon comes from serious political theorists." American political scientist and sinologist David Shambaugh argues that before
9184-401: Is why we talk about a 'socialist market economy' with Chinese characteristics." The attainment of true "communism" is still described as the CCP's and China's "ultimate goal". While the CCP claims that China is in the primary stage of socialism , party theorists argue that the current development stage "looks a lot like capitalism". Alternatively, certain party theorists argue that "capitalism
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9408-548: The Weiquan movement , were especially critical of Zhou's tenure as China's security chief. Civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang criticized Zhou in a public lecture at Hong Kong University in December 2011. Two years later, Pu wrote on his microblog that Zhou "brought great disaster and inflicted great suffering on the country and its people." Pu wrote that the weiwen policies spearheaded by Zhou had severely undermined progress in
9632-482: The 12-3 incident . The event was prompted by the colonial government's delays in approving a new wing for a CCP elementary school in Taipa . The school board illegally began construction, but the colonial government sent police to stop the workers. Several people were injured in the resulting melee . On December 3, 1966, two days of rioting occurred in which hundreds were injured and six to eight were killed, leading to
9856-511: The 16th Central Committee conceived and formulated the ideology of the Scientific Outlook on Development (SOD). It is considered to be Hu Jintao's contribution to the official ideological discourse. The SOD incorporates scientific socialism , sustainable development , social welfare , a humanistic society, increased democracy, and, ultimately, the creation of a Socialist Harmonious Society . According to official statements by
10080-519: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre . The protests having been crushed and the reformist party general secretary Zhao Ziyang under house arrest, Deng's economic policies resumed and by the early 1990s the concept of a socialist market economy had been introduced. In 1997, Deng's beliefs (officially called " Deng Xiaoping Theory ") were embedded into the CCP's constitution . CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng as paramount leader in
10304-530: The Arirang Festival as a guest of Kim Jong-il before Kim died in 2011. In February 2012, former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun made an abrupt and unexpected visit to the United States consulate in the city of Chengdu. The event set off a political storm which eventually resulted in the ouster of Chongqing party committee secretary Bo Xilai . Bo, considered a political ally of Zhou,
10528-567: The Central People's Government . From this time through the 1980s, top leaders of the CCP (such as Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping) were largely the same military leaders prior to the PRC's founding. As a result, informal personal ties between political and military leaders dominated civil-military relations. Stalin proposed a one-party constitution when Liu Shaoqi visited
10752-525: The China National Petroleum Corporation 's (CNPC) largest oil fields. Zhou was seen as a hard-working and emotionally mature presence to his colleagues; he did not drink or smoke, and would rarely speak based on script. He would reputedly talk unscripted for hours on end while keeping his colleagues engaged. At Liaohe, Zhou met Wang Shuhua ( Chinese : 王淑华 ), a factory worker from Hebei province, whom he later married. As
10976-573: The Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang . In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China . Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of the CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution , which outlines the party's ideology , collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics . As of 2024 ,
11200-533: The Chinese New Year holiday period, which is a time traditionally reserved for family reunions. Instead, Zhou would visit his colleagues who were working in harsh winter conditions in remote areas. Beginning in the 1970s, Zhou would gain rapid career advancement. He owed much of his career growth to his mentors from the Beijing Institute of Petroleum, who were working in executive positions at
11424-531: The Cultural Revolution ensnared Beijing's higher education institutions. Zhou was told by the authorities to "wait for an assignment" while the political struggles wreaked havoc on China's universities. He waited for a year. He joined geological survey work in north-east China in 1967, assigned to become an intern technician at factory No. 673 at the Daqing oil field. In 1970, Zhou was promoted to lead
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#173278274710511648-623: The Cultural Revolution Group , Mao launched the Revolution and said that bourgeois elements had infiltrated the government and society with the aim of restoring capitalism. Mao called on young people to bombard the headquarters , and proclaimed that "to rebel is justified". Mass upheaval began in Beijing with Red August in 1966. Many young people, mainly students, responded by forming cadres of Red Guards throughout
11872-758: The Five Black Categories . Intellectuals and scientists were considered to be the Stinking Old Ninth , and many were persecuted. The country's schools and universities were closed, and the National College Entrance Examination were cancelled. Over 10 million youth from urban areas were relocated under the Down to the Countryside Movement policy. In December 1978, Deng Xiaoping became
12096-524: The Gang of Four before a less radical faction seized control. During the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping directed the CCP away from Maoist orthodoxy and towards a policy of economic liberalization . The official explanation for these reforms was that China was still in the primary stage of socialism , a developmental stage similar to the capitalist mode of production . Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and
12320-624: The Great Chinese Famine , which resulted in an estimated 15 to 45 million deaths, making it the largest famine in recorded history. During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was going through a period of " de-Stalinization " under Nikita Khrushchev . By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under
12544-487: The Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi . The near destruction of the CCP's urban organizational apparatus led to institutional changes within the party. The party adopted democratic centralism , a way to organize revolutionary parties, and established a politburo to function as the standing committee of the central committee. The result was increased centralization of power within the party. At every level of
12768-625: The Mount Emei scenic region to attract more visitors. Zhou also improved public safety in the province, for example, by enacting policies that aimed to reduce accidents in the province's water lanes. On October 20, 2000, in the spirit of attracting investment for economic development, Zhou hosted visiting Chinese and international dignitaries and businesspeople at the China Western Forum held in Chengdu. While in Sichuan, he gained
12992-668: The New Culture Movement , but by 1920 many grew sceptical about their ability to bring about reforms. China's intellectual movements were fragmented in the early 1920s. The May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement had identified issues of broad concern to Chinese progressives, including anti-imperialism , support for nationalism , support for democracy , promotion of feminism, and rejection of traditional values. Proposed solutions among Chinese progressives differed significantly, however. The CCP
13216-484: The Politburo and its Standing Committee . Members of the latter are seen as the top leadership of the party and the state. Today the party's leader holds the offices of general secretary (responsible for civilian party duties), Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) (responsible for military affairs), and State President (a largely ceremonial position). Because of these posts,
13440-739: The United Nations and reneged on its pledge to supply China with a nuclear weapon. Mao publicly denounced revisionism in April 1960. Without pointing at the USSR, Mao criticized its Balkan ally, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia . In turn, the USSR criticized China's Balkan ally, the Party of Labour of Albania . In 1963, CCP began to denounce the USSR, publishing nine polemics. One was titled On Khrushchev's Phoney Communism and Historical Lessons for
13664-464: The Zhengfawei , which normally oversaw government policy in the courts, prosecution agencies, criminal legislation, paramilitary forces, and internal intelligence services, had combined jurisdiction over executive police organs meant that Zhengfawei chiefs held immense and largely unchecked legislative, executive, and judicial powers. As Minister of Public Security, Zhou was seen as China's "national police chief". He undertook significant reforms of
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#173278274710513888-441: The dictatorship of the proletariat " stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the Cultural Revolution in which millions were persecuted and killed. During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping , Peng Dehuai , and He Long were purged or exiled, and the Gang of Four , led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing , emerged to fill in
14112-751: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CCP has focused on maintaining its relations with the ruling parties of the remaining socialist states and continues to participate in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties each year. The CCP has also established relations with several non-communist parties, including dominant nationalist parties of many developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as social democratic parties in Europe. The Chinese Communist Party
14336-551: The fall of Lin Biao in 1971, the Gang of Four became influential in 1972, and the Revolution continued until Mao's death in 1976, soon followed by the arrest of the Gang of Four. The Cultural Revolution was characterized by violence and chaos across Chinese society, including a massacre in Guangxi that included acts of cannibalism , as well as massacres in Beijing, Inner Mongolia , Guangdong , Yunnan , and Hunan . Estimates of
14560-660: The " Practice Is the Sole Criterion for the Truth " campaign, the relationship between ideology and decision making was a deductive one, meaning that policy-making was derived from ideological knowledge. However, under Deng's leadership this relationship was turned upside down, with decision making justifying ideology. Chinese policy-makers have described the Soviet Union's state ideology as "rigid, unimaginative, ossified, and disconnected from reality", believing that this
14784-475: The " Two Whatevers " policy. The new ideology, however, was contested on both sides of the spectrum, by Maoists to the left of the CCP's leadership, as well as by those supporting political liberalization. In 1981, the Party adopted a historical resolution , which assessed the historical legacy of the Mao Zedong era and the future priorities of the CCP. With other social factors, the conflicts culminated in
15008-599: The "16 May Notification", this document summarized Mao's ideological justification for CR. Initially kept secret, distributed only among high-ranking party members, it was later declassified and published in People's Daily on 17 May 1967. Effectively it implied that enemies of the Communist cause could be found within the Party: class enemies who "wave the red flag to oppose the red flag." The only way to identify these people
15232-425: The "Three Supports and Two Militaries" initiative, in which PLA troops were sent to schools and work units across the country to stabilize political tumult and end factional warfare. The three "Supports" were to "support the left", "support the interior", "support industry". The "two Militaries" referred to "military management" and "military training". The policy of supporting the left failed to define "leftists" at
15456-401: The "literary battle" against Peng raged, Mao fired Yang Shangkun —director of the party's General Office , an organ that controlled internal communications—making unsubstantiated charges. He installed loyalist Wang Dongxing , head of Mao's security detail. Yang's dismissal likely emboldened Mao's allies to move against their factional rivals. On 12 February 1966, the "Five Man Group" issued
15680-586: The "main innovator" of Xi Jinping Thought while also declaring Xi's leadership as being "the key to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation ". In comparison with the other historical resolutions, Xi's one did not herald a major change in how the CCP evaluated its history. On 6 July 2021, Xi chaired the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties Summit , which involved representatives from 500 political parties across 160 countries. Xi urged
15904-434: The 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, an event which saw Xi Jinping ascend to become General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party , China's paramount leader . In a significant change to China's top ruling council, Zhou's Political and Legal Affairs Commission portfolio did not feature in the new Standing Committee at all; instead, the committee had shrunk to its pre-2002 size of seven instead of nine members. This
16128-433: The 1990s and continued most of his policies. In the 1990s, the CCP transformed from a veteran revolutionary leadership that was both leading militarily and politically, to a political elite increasingly renewed according to institutionalized norms in the civil bureaucracy. Leadership was largely selected based on rules and norms on promotion and retirement, educational background, and managerial and technical expertise. There
16352-527: The 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 60th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2009, and Expo 2010 in Shanghai. At around this time, " weiwen " (维稳; roughly, "protecting stability") became a top political priority of the Chinese government. Zhou headed the national weiwen task force, overseeing law enforcement, suppression of dissent, state surveillance, and combating separatist movements in Xinjiang and Tibet. By 2011, during
16576-475: The 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee , when it was amended to "let market forces play a decisive role in resource allocation ." Despite this, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee upheld the creed "Maintain the dominance of the public sector and strengthen the economic vitality of the state-owned economy." "... their theory that capitalism is the ultimate [force] has been shaken, and socialist development has experienced
16800-690: The Bo trial became "out of control" as Bo made many shocking revelations during the deliberation of his trial which became tabloid fodder and led to many rumours circulating on social media, making the authorities more risk averse to do the same with Zhou. Zhou's son Zhou Bin absconded to the US in early 2013, and returned after negotiations with Chinese authorities. In June 2016, Zhou Bin was found guilty of taking 222 million yuan ($ 34m) in bribes and illegally trading in restricted commodities, and 350 million yuan ($ 53m) of illicit gains were confiscated; Zhou's wife, Jia Xiaoyue,
17024-662: The CCP and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Chinese Communist Revolution . Chen and Li were among the most influential promoters of Marxism in China during the May Fourth period. The CCP itself embraces the May Fourth Movement and views itself as part of the movement's legacy. Study circles were, according to Cai Hesen , "the rudiments [of our party]". Several study circles were established during
17248-419: The CCP constitution in 2017. Xi's term as general secretary was renewed in 2022. Since 2014, the CCP has led efforts in Xinjiang that involve the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in internment camps , as well as other repressive measures . This has been described as a genocide by some academics and some governments. On the other hand, a greater number of countries signed
17472-470: The CCP criticized the Three Represents as being un-Marxist and a betrayal of basic Marxist values. Supporters viewed it as a further development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Jiang disagreed, and had concluded that attaining the communist mode of production, as formulated by earlier communists, was more complex than had been realized, and that it was useless to try to force a change in
17696-454: The CCP had tactically withdrawn from the cities, and instead undermined KMT rule there by instigating protests among students and intellectuals. The KMT responded to these demonstrations with heavy-handed repression. In the meantime, the KMT was struggling with factional infighting and Chiang Kai-shek's autocratic control over the party, which weakened its ability to respond to attacks. The third stage, lasting from July 1947 to August 1948, saw
17920-641: The CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the second largest political party by membership in the world after India 's Bharatiya Janata Party . In 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao led the founding of the CCP with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International . For the first six years, the CCP aligned itself with
18144-574: The CCP was held 23–31 July 1921. With only 50 members in the beginning of 1921, among them Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong, the CCP organization and authorities grew tremendously. While it was originally held in a house in the Shanghai French Concession , French police interrupted the meeting on 30 July and the congress was moved to a tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing , Zhejiang province. A dozen delegates attended
18368-401: The CCP would eventually control the KMT and called their opponents "rightists". KMT leader Sun Yat-sen eased the conflict between the communists and their opponents. CCP membership grew tremendously after the 4th congress in 1925, from 900 to 2,428. The CCP still treats Sun Yat-sen as one of the founders of their movement and claim descent from him as he is viewed as a proto-communist and
18592-425: The CCP, Marxism–Leninism provides a "vision of the contradictions in capitalist society and of the inevitability of a future socialist and communist societies". According to the People's Daily , Mao Zedong Thought "is Marxism–Leninism applied and developed in China". Mao Zedong Thought was conceived not only by Mao Zedong, but by leading party officials, according to Xinhua News Agency . Deng Xiaoping Theory
18816-502: The CCP, the concept integrates "Marxism with the reality of contemporary China and with the underlying features of our times, and it fully embodies the Marxist worldview on and methodology for development." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly known as Xi Jinping Thought, was added to the party constitution in the 19th National Congress in 2017. The theory's main elements are summarized in
19040-623: The CCP. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution . Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere. Some historical analysis views the May Fourth Movement as the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that led to the founding of the People's Republic of China . Following
19264-494: The CCP. The concept has its origins back to Lenin and the Russian Bolshevik Party. At the level of the central party leadership this means that, for instance, all members of the Politburo Standing Committee are of equal standing (each member having only one vote). A member of the Politburo Standing Committee often represents a sector; during Mao's reign, he controlled the People's Liberation Army, Kang Sheng ,
19488-497: The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission ( Zhengfawei ). The central government was also in need of a tough and uncompromising figure to take reins of China's security system in the post-9/11 global security paradigm. With his quasi-military style training in the oil sector and a reputation for being able to make tough decisions, Zhou got the nod to become Minister of Public Security in December 2002. He also earned
19712-558: The Headquarters , rallying people to target the "command centre (i.e., Headquarters) of counterrevolution." Mao wrote that despite having undergone a communist revolution, a "bourgeois" elite was still thriving in "positions of authority" in the government and Party. Although no names were mentioned, this provocative statement has been interpreted as a direct indictment of the party establishment under Liu and Deng—the purported "bourgeois headquarters" of China. The personnel changes at
19936-749: The Hong Kong–based Apple Daily , Zhou's eldest son made more than US$ 1.6 billion from public works in the city of Chongqing alone. He also supposedly used his father's prominence to extort millions of dollars in protection fees from various businesses and organizations. Zhou was reportedly being held in confinement without visitation rights in a heavily guarded facility on a military base near Baotou , Inner Mongolia. By March 2014, Chinese authorities were reported to have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($ 14.5 billion) from Zhou's family members and associates. By spring 2014, it became increasingly clear that Zhou's spheres of influence –
20160-506: The Japanese invaders. While the front formally existed until 1945, all collaboration between the two parties had effectively ended by 1940. Despite their formal alliance, the CCP used the opportunity to expand and carve out independent bases of operations to prepare for the coming war with the KMT. In 1939, the KMT began to restrict CCP expansion within China. This led to frequent clashes between CCP and KMT forces which subsided rapidly on
20384-476: The Japanese surrendered) to June 1946 (when the peace talks between the CCP and the KMT ended). By 1945, the KMT had three times more soldiers under its command than the CCP and initially appeared to be prevailing. With the cooperation of the US and Japan, the KMT was able to retake major parts of the country. However, KMT rule over the reconquered territories proved unpopular because of its endemic political corruption . Notwithstanding its numerical superiority,
20608-399: The KMT failed to reconquer the rural territories which made up the CCP's stronghold. Around the same time, the CCP launched an invasion of Manchuria , where they were assisted by the Soviet Union. The second stage, lasting from July 1946 to June 1947, saw the KMT extend its control over major cities such as Yan'an , the CCP headquarters, for much of the war. The KMT's successes were hollow;
20832-464: The KMT led to the reorganization of the Red Army, with power now centralized in the leadership through the creation of CCP political departments charged with supervising the army. The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 paused the conflict between the CCP and the KMT. Under pressure from Marshal Zhang Xueliang and the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to a Second United Front focused on repelling
21056-558: The KMT, while Chen Duxiu hoped that the communists would completely withdraw from the KMT. In April 1927, both Chiang and the CCP were preparing for conflict. Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai,
21280-458: The Kuomintang (KMT) as the organized left wing of the larger nationalist movement. However, when the right wing of the KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek , turned on the CCP and massacred tens of thousands of the party's members, the two parties split and began a prolonged civil war. During the next ten years of guerrilla warfare , Mao Zedong rose to become the most influential figure in the CCP, and
21504-592: The Liaohe exploration team grew, Zhou eventually became responsible for over 2,300 employees in his department. His work consisted mainly of leading teams to unexplored, barren territory to conduct site surveys to assess the potential for future oil drilling. He was known to be great at maintaining good interpersonal relationships with his superiors and subordinates, and gained significant personal clout. During some years, Zhou did not go back to his home in Jiangsu even during
21728-526: The Liaohe oil fields at the time. In particular the university's president was known to be fond of Zhou's skills and was eager to promote him. In 1983, with the director of the Liaohe Oil Field Management Bureau being transferred for a job in Beijing, Zhou was promoted to manage day-to-day affairs of the oil field . Moreover, given the oil field's prominence in the municipal affairs of the city of Panjin, Zhou became concurrently
21952-622: The Mayor of Panjin and the city's deputy party secretary. Zhou's stint as mayor was his first major role in government. In 1985, Zhou Yongkang left Liaoning for Beijing to become the Deputy Minister of Petroleum Industry. In 1988, the ministry later folded and became a state-owned enterprise , the predecessor of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's largest energy company. Zhou became
22176-514: The National Surveying and Mapping Bureau. As minister, Zhou, upon finding that his staff did not have adequate housing, initiated a housing construction program for the department's engineers and senior technical staff. In 2000, Zhou became Party Secretary of Sichuan , the province's top political office . Sichuan was China's second most populous province at the time. Prior to Zhou, most of Sichuan's provincial leaders originated from
22400-625: The People's Republic of China, symbolically bringing the decades-long Chinese Civil War to a close. Remaining Republican forces fled to Taiwan , and continued to resist the People's Republic in various ways. Many soldiers of the Chinese Republicans were left in mainland China, and Mao Zedong launched the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries to eliminate these soldiers left behind, as well as elements of Chinese society viewed as potentially dangerous to Mao's new government. This
22624-580: The Plenum reflected a radical re-design of the party hierarchy. Liu and Deng kept their seats on the Politburo Standing Committee, but were sidelined from day-to-day party affairs. Lin Biao was elevated to become the CCP's number-two; Liu's rank went from second to eighth and was no longer Mao's heir apparent. Along with the top leadership losing power the entire national Party bureaucracy was purged. The extensive Organization Department , in charge of party personnel, virtually ceased to exist. The top officials in
22848-611: The Propaganda Department were sacked, with many of its functions folded into the CRG. The Little Red Book was the mechanism that led the Red Guards to commit to their objective as China's future. Quotes directly from Mao led to actions by the Red Guards in the views of other Maoist leaders. By December 1967, 350 million copies had been printed. One of these quotes was the famous line " Political power grows out of
23072-506: The Soviet Union in 1952. The constitution of the PRC in 1954 subsequently abolished the previous coalition government and established the CCP's one-party system. In 1957, the CCP launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign against political dissidents and prominent figures from minor parties, which resulted in the political persecution of at least 550,000 people. The campaign significantly damaged the limited pluralistic nature in
23296-500: The Soviet Union would assist "genuine communists" who overthrew Mao and his "erroneous course". Chinese leadership also feared the increasing military conflict between the United States and North Vietnam , concerned that China's support would lead to the United States to seek out potential Chinese assets. In 1963, Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement , the Cultural Revolution's precursor. Mao set
23520-477: The USSR. In 1956, Khrushchev denounced his predecessor Josef Stalin and his policies , and began implementing economic reforms . Mao and many other CCP members opposed these changes, believing that they would damage the worldwide communist movement. Mao believed that Khrushchev was a revisionist , altering Marxist–Leninist concepts, which Mao claimed would give capitalists control of the USSR. Relations soured. The USSR refused to support China's case for joining
23744-554: The Wang Lijun scandal, a decision which Zhou alone was said to have resisted. In 2015, Hong Kong–based media Phoenix Weekly reported that Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai had a secret meeting in Chongqing, which both two believe they should end Deng Xiaoping 's reform and opening-up policy and reinstate Mao Zedong 's policy during Cultural Revolution . In the days following Bo Xilai's fall, rumours circulated about Zhou's break with
23968-505: The Western world is "threatening to divide us" and that "the international culture of the West is strong while we are weak ... Ideological and cultural fields are our main targets". As such, the CCP puts a great deal of effort into the party schools and into crafting its ideological message. Collective leadership, the idea that decisions will be taken through consensus, has been the ideal in
24192-594: The World , in which Mao charged that Khrushchev was a revisionist and risked capitalist restoration. Khrushchev's defeat by an internal coup d'état in 1964 contributed to Mao's fears, mainly because of his declining prestige after the Great Leap Forward. Other Soviet actions increased concerns about potential fifth columnists . As a result of the tensions following the Sino-Soviet split, Soviet leaders authorized radio broadcasts into China stating that
24416-741: The Wuhan KMT government, but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT. The CCP reacted by founding the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China , better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the Nanchang uprising . Initially successful, Zhu and his troops were forced to retreat after five days, marching south to Shantou , and from there being driven into
24640-524: The Zhou household when he married, Zhou Yongkang's father took on his wife's surname and became known as Zhou Yisheng (周义生). Zhou was the eldest of three sons. Zhou's family was poor; his family made a living farming and fishing the Asian swamp eel . Zhou was sent to school with the financial assistance of his family friends. In 1954, Zhou was enrolled at one of the two top middle schools in the eastern Wuxi area. It
24864-512: The anticipated trial, Supreme Court President Zhou Qiang (of no relation) told an assembled international press conference that Zhou Yongkang's trial would be "open and in accordance with the law." In April 2015, Zhou Yongkang was formally charged with abuse of power, bribery, and intentionally leaking state secrets, and scheduled to face trial at the Tianjin First Intermediate People's Court. Overseas Chinese media
25088-486: The assembled press gallery burst into laughter. On July 29, 2014, state media formally announced an internal party investigation against Zhou Yongkang's "violations of party discipline", but did not mention any criminal wrongdoing. Several months later, the party investigation concluded that Zhou abused his power for the illicit gain of his family, friends, and associates, took "large amounts in bribes personally and through his family and associates; abused his power to further
25312-461: The barrel of a gun ." The passage continues: Revolutionary war is an antitoxin which not only eliminates the enemy's poison but also purges us of our filth. Every just, revolutionary war is endowed with tremendous power and can transform many things or clear the way for their transformation. The Sino-Japanese war will transform both China and Japan; Provided China perseveres in the War of Resistance and in
25536-446: The basis of historical materialism , will eventually triumph over capitalism. In recent years, when the party has been asked to explain the capitalist globalization occurring, the party has returned to the writings of Karl Marx . Despite admitting that globalization developed through the capitalist system, the party's leaders and theorists argue that globalization is not intrinsically capitalist. The reason being that if globalization
25760-523: The bourgeoisie who have sneaked into the Party, the government, the army, and various spheres of culture are a bunch of counter-revolutionary revisionists. Once conditions are ripe, they will seize political power and turn the dictatorship of the proletariat into a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Some of them we have already seen through; others we have not. Some are still trusted by us and are being trained as our successors, persons like Khrushchev for example, who are still nestling beside us. Later known as
25984-439: The changing situation dynamically; to know if a certain policy is obsolete or not, the party had to " seek truth from facts " and follow the slogan "practice is the sole criterion for the truth". At the 14th National Congress, Jiang reiterated Deng's mantra that it was unnecessary to ask if something was socialist or capitalist, since the important factor was whether it worked. The "Three Represents", Jiang Zemin's contribution to
26208-417: The class suspension nationwide. By early June, throngs of young demonstrators lined the capital's major thoroughfares holding giant portraits of Mao, beating drums, and shouting slogans. When the dismissal of Peng and the municipal party leadership became public in early June, confusion was widespread. The public and foreign missions were kept in the dark on the reason for Peng's ousting. Top Party leadership
26432-413: The collective leadership". Academics have noted a decline in collective leadership under Xi Jinping. "[Democratic centralism] is centralized on the basis of democracy and democratic under centralized guidance. This is the only system that can give full expression to democracy with full powers vested in the people's congresses at all levels and, at the same time, guarantee centralized administration with
26656-577: The communists go on the offensive and the collapse of KMT rule in mainland China as a whole. Mao's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949 marked the end of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (or the Chinese Communist Revolution , as it is called by the CCP). Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) before a massive crowd at Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949. The CCP headed
26880-553: The company's subsidiary PetroChina . In October 1997, Zhou gained a seat on the Central Committee of the Communist Party , a leadership assembly of some 200 top political figures of the party. In March 1998, Zhou was elevated to become Minister of Land and Resources in Premier Zhu Rongji 's cabinet. The "mega-ministry" was created after a merger of the formerly separate Ministry of Geology and Mining, Administration of National Land, National Administration of Oceans, and
27104-454: The conference, Liu, once a powerful moderate pundit, was placed under house arrest, then sent to a detention camp, where he was denied medical treatment and died in 1969. Deng was sent away for a period of re-education three times and was eventually sent to work in an engine factory in Jiangxi . Rebellion by party cadres accelerated after the conference. In Macau , rioting broke out during
27328-681: The congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to attend, the latter sending a personal representative in his stead. The resolutions of the congress called for the establishment of a communist party as a branch of the Communist International (Comintern) and elected Chen as its leader. Chen then served as the first general secretary of the CCP and was referred to as "China's Lenin". The Soviets hoped to foster pro-Soviet forces in East Asia to fight against anti-communist countries, particularly Japan . They attempted to contact
27552-542: The country's policing system, which not only faced external pressures from a deteriorating domestic security situation, but also internal dissent due to stagnant wages and lack of resources. Zhou set out mandating the construction of new office buildings to serve as police headquarters and provided modern housing for officers. He also implemented a wide array of disciplinary regulations, including making offenses such as using firearms outside of work duties, drinking and driving, and gambling during work hours causes for dismissal. He
27776-463: The country. A selection of Mao's sayings were compiled into the Little Red Book , which became revered within his cult of personality . In 1967, emboldened radicals began seizing power from local governments and party branches, establishing new revolutionary committees in their place. These committees often split into rival factions, precipitating armed clashes among the radicals . After
28000-403: The crackdown on Zhou beginning in 2012. Xi's 'tough talk' on corruption began immediately after his ascension to the post of General Secretary. In his first days in office, Xi vowed to crack down on "tigers and flies", meaning extremely powerful officials as well as petty ones. Xi moved quickly to set a new standard for expected behavior of party officials, issuing a series of guidelines to clean up
28224-639: The death toll vary widely, typically ranging from 1–2 million. Red Guards sought to destroy the Four Olds (old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits), which often took the form of destroying historical artifacts, cultural and religious sites, and targeting others deemed to be representative of the Four Olds. Tens of millions were persecuted, including senior officials: most notably, president Liu Shaoqi , as well as Deng Xiaoping , Peng Dehuai , and He Long . Millions were persecuted for being members of
28448-709: The defensive. Peng, Wu Han's direct superior, was the head of the Five Man Group , a committee commissioned by Mao to study the potential for a cultural revolution. Peng Zhen, aware that he would be implicated if Wu indeed wrote an "anti-Mao" play, wished to contain Yao's influence. Yao's article was initially published only in select local newspapers. Peng forbade its publication in the nationally distributed People's Daily and other major newspapers under his control, instructing them to write exclusively about "academic discussion", and not pay heed to Yao's petty politics. While
28672-444: The deputy secretary position at the Zhengfawei meant that his status in the Chinese domestic security system was second only to Politburo Standing Committee member Luo Gan . Zhou was the first Minister of Public Security to hold a Politburo seat since Mao's successor Hua Guofeng , a testament to the renewed importance of the domestic security portfolio. This was partially attributed to the increasingly sharp social conflict in China as
28896-480: The economic element of Sun's ideology was socialism. Sun stated, "Our Principle of Livelihood is a form of communism". The communists dominated the left wing of the KMT and struggled for power with the party's right-wing factions. When Sun Yat-sen died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, Chiang Kai-shek , who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists. Chiang, Sun's former assistant,
29120-425: The embryonic stage." In that year, some 130,000 "mass incidents" of protest and violence were reported around the country, mostly caused by official corruption, environmental degradation, and social security issues. Incidences of police brutality increased, and in many cases police involvement in popular protests exacerbated underlying problems and led to further violence. Towards the end of his term, Zhou presided over
29344-415: The eyes of the law." It said that Zhou "betrayed the essence and mission of the party" and that "corruption in the party is like fire and water." Media outlets outside of mainland China speculated about the political reasons behind Zhou's downfall. The Economist compared Zhou's fall with earlier internecine struggles in the party and noted Xi's anti-corruption campaign had "apparent factional bias", quoting
29568-521: The founding of the People's Republic of China. During this period, the term was used interchangeably with "cultural construction" and referred to eliminating illiteracy in order to widen public participation in civic matters. This usage of "cultural revolution" continued through the 1950s and into the 1960s, and often involved drawing parallels to the May Fourth Movement or the Soviet cultural revolution of 1928–1931. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong declared
29792-412: The fundamental interests of the people." The theory legitimized the entry of private business owners and bourgeois elements into the party. Hu Jintao , Jiang Zemin's successor as general secretary, took office in 2002. Unlike Mao, Deng and Jiang Zemin, Hu laid emphasis on collective leadership and opposed one-man dominance of the political system. The insistence on focusing on economic growth led to
30016-647: The geological survey division of a local department charged with carrying out an ambitious petroleum drilling initiative set out by the Party's top leadership. Zhou worked in the oil industry from 1967 to 1998. In 1973, Zhou Yongkang was promoted to head the Geophysical Exploration Department of the Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Bureau , located in Panjin , Liaoning. Liaohe would eventually become one of
30240-495: The governments at each level ..." — Mao Zedong, from his speech entitled "Our General Programme" Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution , formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution , was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976. Its stated goal
30464-477: The interests of his family, mistresses, and associates; committed adultery with multiple women and engaged in the exchange of money and favours for sex; and leaked state and party secrets." State media announced Zhou's arrest to face criminal proceedings on December 5, 2014. He was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. Zhou was the first Politburo Standing Committee member to be expelled from
30688-408: The legal system was once under the hands of a deeply corrupt politician. Duowei News expressed disappointment with mainstream Western media characterization of the event as "yet another political purge", asserting that seeing modern China, particularly the post-Xi Communist Party, as rife with political intrigue and full of backroom deals is imprecise and naive. Duowei stated that Western media had
30912-484: The legal system, and a restoration of the Zhengfawei in a policy oversight role rather than being an executive organ, which had been the case under Zhou. In 2013, Zhou appeared in public three times. He visited his alma maters, Suzhou High School and the China University of Petroleum in April and October, respectively; on June 23, Zhou visited the Zibo , Shandong –based Qilu Petrochemicals Company ( Chinese : 齐鲁石化公司 ),
31136-436: The meeting the members of China's ruling council reportedly exchanged differing viewpoints on Zhou. Eventually Xi Jinping and the other six members of the newly formed 18th Politburo Standing Committee came to consensus to investigate Zhou. Zhou's case was unprecedented, as no corruption investigation had ever been initiated against a member of the elite Politburo Standing Committee. The last PSC member to be ousted politically
31360-430: The mental outlook of the whole of society. At present, our objective is to struggle against and overthrow those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, to criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic "authorities" and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and to transform education, literature and art and all other parts of the superstructure not in correspondence with
31584-417: The mode of production, as it had to develop naturally, by following the " economic laws of history ." The theory is most notable for allowing capitalists, officially referred to as the "new social strata", to join the party on the grounds that they engaged in "honest labor and work" and through their labour contributed "to build[ing] socialism with Chinese characteristics." In 2003, the 3rd Plenary Session of
31808-472: The most influential member of the CCP until his death in 1976 , although he periodically withdrew from public leadership as his health deteriorated. Under Mao, the party completed its land reform program, launched a series of five-year plans , and eventually split with the Soviet Union . Although Mao attempted to purge the party of capitalist and reactionary elements during the Cultural Revolution , after his death, these policies were only briefly continued by
32032-529: The most severe setback and the heaviest losses suffered by the people, the country, and the party since the founding of the People's Republic." Given its broad scope and social impact, memories and perspectives of the Cultural Revolution are varied and complex in contemporary China. It is often referred to as the "ten years of chaos" ( 十年动乱 ; shí nián dòngluàn ) or "ten years of havoc" ( 十年浩劫 ; shí nián hàojié ). The terminology of cultural revolution appeared in communist party discourses and newspapers prior to
32256-469: The movement's most radical elements, fearing that the movement would spin out of control. In July, Mao, in Wuhan, crossed the Yangtze River, showing his vigor. He then returned from Wuhan to Beijing and criticized party leadership for its handling of the work-teams issue. Mao accused the work teams of undermining the student movement, calling for their full withdrawal on July 24. Several days later
32480-467: The movement, trends towards social transformation increased. Writing in 1939, Mao Zedong stated that the Movement had shown that the bourgeois revolution against imperialism and China had developed to a new stage, but that the proletariat would lead the revolution's completion. The May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into
32704-556: The new paramount leader of China , replacing Mao's successor Hua Guofeng . Deng and his allies introduced the Boluan Fanzheng program and initiated reforms and opening of China , which, together with the New Enlightenment movement , gradually dismantled the ideology of Cultural Revolution. In 1981, the Communist Party publicly acknowledged numerous failures of the Cultural Revolution, declaring it "responsible for
32928-461: The number of extrajudicial detention centres known as " black jails ". With increased resources at the disposal of police departments and a higher concentration of power, law enforcement agencies often found itself at odds with public interest; public trust in domestic security organs eroded. Zhou's time as the top official in Sichuan, the oil sector, and Public Security Minister earned him significant leadership experience and personal clout, as well as
33152-420: The office of CCP general secretary at the expense of the collective leadership of prior decades. Commentators have described the campaign as a defining part of Xi's leadership as well as "the principal reason why he has been able to consolidate his power so quickly and effectively." Xi's leadership has also overseen an increase in the Party's role in China. Xi has added his ideology , named after himself, into
33376-409: The offices of CCP general secretary, CMC chairman and PRC president . Before Jiang Zemin's tenure as paramount leader, the party core and collective leadership were indistinguishable. In practice, the core was not responsible to the collective leadership. However, by the time of Jiang, the party had begun propagating a responsibility system, referring to it in official pronouncements as the "core of
33600-530: The oil sector, Sichuan, the legal system, and his family members – were being methodically rounded up for investigation. However, in the absence of any official reports on Zhou himself, Chinese and international media became rife with speculation about his fate. At a press conference during the March 2014 national meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , a reporter from Hong Kong–based South China Morning Post directly asked
33824-493: The operational control of the party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission to Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu due to his support for Bo Xilai, and had lost his right to select his successor when he retires from the Politburo Standing Committee in the fall of 2012. The New York Times later reported that Zhou's status remained unchanged. At around the same time, a group of provincial party veterans from Yunnan province penned an open letter to Hu Jintao calling for
34048-447: The other hand, said that "they tried to bribe my family, but really they were after my power. I should assume major responsibility for this". State-run news agency Xinhua said that the trial took place in secret because state secrets were involved in the case. However, it was also likely that Zhou's trial was not open to the public as a result of the sensitivity of the subject matter and its political implications. Observers also cited that
34272-480: The participants to oppose "technology blockades," and "developmental decoupling" in order to work towards "building a community with a shared future for mankind." The core ideology of the party has evolved with each distinct generation of Chinese leadership . As both the CCP and the People's Liberation Army promote their members according to seniority, it is possible to discern distinct generations of Chinese leadership. In official discourse, each group of leadership
34496-517: The party bureaucracy. Xi may have also been concerned that Zhou might use his influence and power to turn various state security entities into tools for advancing his interests, and in the process undermine the central authority of the state. Discussions surrounding the Zhou case took place in the summer of 2013. In June, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party held a four-day-long conference in Beijing specifically to discuss Zhou Yongkang. During
34720-633: The party established a strong base among the rural peasantry with its land reform policies . Support for the CCP continued to grow throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War , and after the Japanese surrender in 1945, the CCP emerged triumphant in the communist revolution against the Nationalist government . After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan , the CCP established the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. Mao Zedong continued to be
34944-407: The party leader is seen as the country's paramount leader . The current leader is Xi Jinping , who was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee held on 15 November 2012 and has been reelected twice, on 25 October 2017 by the 19th Central Committee and on 10 October 2022 by the 20th Central Committee . The October Revolution and Marxist theory inspired the founding of
35168-463: The party leadership as well as a "coup d'etat" on March 19. Unconfirmed reports surfaced on the U.K. based Sunday Times , citing Hong Kong magazine Frontline ( 《前哨》 ), that the paramilitary forces under Zhou's disposal had narrowly avoided direct conflict with the 38th Army in the center of Beijing. Outwardly, Zhou appeared to be toeing the party line between March 2012 and his scheduled retirement in November. For example, several days after Bo Xilai
35392-524: The party leadership. On 1 August, the Eleventh Plenum of the 8th Central Committee was convened to advance Mao's radical agenda. At the plenum, Mao showed disdain for Liu, repeatedly interrupting him as he delivered his opening day speech. On July 28, Red Guard representatives wrote to Mao, calling for rebellion and upheaval to safeguard the revolution. Mao then responded to the letters by writing his own big-character poster entitled Bombard
35616-428: The party since the fall of the Gang of Four in 1980 at the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution. After the announcement of Zhou's expulsion from the party, the party's official newspaper People's Daily editorialized that Zhou's expulsion was part of the "strong resolve" to stamp out corruption in the party by General Secretary Xi Jinping. The editorial said the case demonstrated that the party saw "everyone as equal in
35840-418: The party this was duplicated, with standing committees now in effective control. After being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu went on to lead China's Trotskyist movement. Li Lisan was able to assume de facto control of the party organization by 1929–1930. The 1929 Gutian Congress was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of
36064-419: The party's formal commitment to Marxism–Leninism with the introduction of the ideological theory, the Three Represents. However, party theorist Leng Rong disagrees, claiming that "President Jiang rid the Party of the ideological obstacles to different kinds of ownership ... He did not give up Marxism or socialism. He strengthened the Party by providing a modern understanding of Marxism and socialism—which
36288-400: The party's ideology, was adopted by the party at the 16th National Congress . The Three Represents defines the role of the CCP, and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people." Certain segments within
36512-426: The party's ideology. Li's leadership was a failure, leaving the CCP on the brink of destruction. The Comintern became involved, and by late 1930, his powers had been taken away. By 1935, Mao had become a member of Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP and the party's informal military leader, with Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian , the formal head of the party, serving as his informal deputies. The conflict with
36736-473: The peasant movement supported by the CCP became more violent. Ye Dehui , a famous scholar, was killed by communists in Changsha , and in revenge, KMT general He Jian and his troops gunned down hundreds of peasant militiamen. That May, tens of thousands of communists and their sympathizers were killed by KMT troops, with the CCP losing approximately 15,000 of its 25,000 members. The CCP continued supporting
36960-435: The political movement of the 1950s that squarely targeted intellectuals, the new movement was focused on established party cadres, many of whom were part of the work teams. As a result, the work teams came under increasing suspicion as thwarting revolutionary fervor. Party leadership subsequently became divided over whether or not work teams should continue. Liu Shaoqi insisted on continuing work-team involvement and suppressing
37184-424: The power vacuum left behind. Following Mao's death in 1976, a power struggle between CCP chairman Hua Guofeng and vice-chairman Deng Xiaoping erupted. Deng won the struggle, and became China's paramount leader in 1978. Deng, alongside Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang , spearheaded the " reform and opening-up " policies, and introduced the ideological concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, opening China to
37408-475: The press. Mao delivered his final blow to Peng at a high-profile Politburo meeting through loyalists Kang Sheng and Chen Boda . They accused Peng of opposing Mao, labeled the February Outline "evidence of Peng Zhen's revisionism", and grouped him with three other disgraced officials as part of the "Peng-Luo-Lu-Yang Anti-Party Clique". On 16 May, the Politburo formalized the decisions by releasing an official document condemning Peng and his "anti-party allies" in
37632-491: The protection of human rights and rule of law, led to unprecedented levels of popular distrust of government authority, expanded the realm of party control in the lives of ordinary citizens, and ran counter to the spirit of the " Harmonious Society " ideology of the Hu-Wen administration. Former State Council functionary Yu Meisun (俞梅荪) said that Zhou's ten years in power were the "ten darkest years for law and order in history [...]
37856-432: The province. Zhou, an outsider, brought change to the province's political landscape. He spearheaded economic modernization policies and in particular focused on agricultural modernization. Sichuan was known to be a province highly dependent on agriculture, and its government operated at a slower pace compared to those of China's coastal regions. Zhou was known for his quick and efficient decision-making, significantly altering
38080-511: The radicals who backed Mao's purge of the Communist party, and the conservatives who backed the moderate party establishment. The "support the left" policy was established in January 1967. Mao's policy was to support the rebels in seizing power; it required the PLA to support "the broad masses of the revolutionary leftists in their struggle to seize power." In March 1967, the policy was adapted into
38304-519: The realization on both sides that civil war amidst a foreign invasion was not an option. By 1943, the CCP was again actively expanding its territory at the expense of the KMT. Mao Zedong became the Chairman of the CCP in 1945. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the war between the CCP and the KMT began again in earnest. The 1945–1949 period had four stages; the first was from August 1945 (when
38528-659: The realms of culture and religion. Historical sites throughout the country were destroyed. The damage was particularly pronounced in the capital, Beijing. Red Guards laid siege to the Temple of Confucius in Qufu , and other historically significant tombs and artifacts. Libraries of historical and foreign texts were destroyed; books were burned. Temples, churches, mosques, monasteries, and cemeteries were closed and sometimes converted to other uses, or looted and destroyed. Marxist propaganda depicted Buddhism as superstition, and religion
38752-442: The removal of Zhou Yongkang due to his support of Bo Xilai. The veterans voiced concerns that those supporting Bo intended to reinstate Mao-style policies in China. Zhou Yongkang retired from Politburo Standing Committee after the 18th Party Congress on 15 November 2012, and retired from Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission five days later, after which Meng Jianzhu succeeded Zhou's position. Zhou retired at
38976-408: The scene by " cleansing " powerful Beijing officials of questionable loyalty. His approach was not transparent, executed via newspaper articles, internal meetings, and by his network of political allies. In late 1959, historian and deputy mayor of Beijing Wu Han published a historical drama entitled Hai Rui Dismissed from Office . In the play, an honest civil servant , Hai Rui , is dismissed by
39200-418: The school's political ideology group as well as the events promoting literacy. In 1961, after obtaining stellar results on his Gaokao exams, he was admitted to the Beijing Institute of Petroleum (now China University of Petroleum ) soon after, and became the pride of his village. He majored in geophysical survey and exploration. In November 1964, Zhou became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1966,
39424-532: The security apparatus, and Zhou Enlai, the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . This counts as informal power. Despite this, in a paradoxical relation, members of a body are ranked hierarchically (despite the fact that members are in theory equal to one another). Informally, the collective leadership is headed by a " leadership core "; that is, the paramount leader , the person who holds
39648-470: The so-called " Chongqing model " unmatched by his other Standing Committee colleagues. Zhou lauded Bo's heavy-handed approach to reduce crime in the city, and praised Bo's style of state-driven, populist " mass movements " which had some characteristics of a Maoist-style political campaign. In March, the Standing Committee moved to remove Bo from his positions as a result of Bo being implicated in
39872-503: The socialist economic base, so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system. The implications of the Sixteen Points were far-reaching. It elevated what was previously a student movement to a nationwide mass campaign that would galvanize workers, farmers, soldiers and lower-level party functionaries to rise, challenge authority, and re-shape the superstructure of society. On 18 August in Beijing, over
40096-639: The socialist republic and solidified the country's status as a de facto one-party state . The Anti-Rightist Campaign led to the catastrophic results of the Second Five Year Plan from 1958 to 1962, known as the Great Leap Forward . In an effort to transform the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized one, the CCP collectivized farmland, formed people's communes, and diverted labour to factories. General mismanagement and exaggerations of harvests by CCP officials led to
40320-479: The spokesperson if he could provide more information on the rumours circulating about the Zhou Yongkang case. In response, the spokesman chuckled and said, "like you, I've seen some stories on a select few media outlets," he then recited a prepared party-line reply, then ended his response with a smile, "this is really all I can say in response to your question, I think you know what I mean." ( 你懂的 ) Afterwards,
40544-407: The state, was life in prison for bribery, seven years for abuse of power, and four years for "leaking state secrets". The court decided that Zhou could serve prison terms concurrently and amalgamated the sentences into one 'combined' life sentence. The total value of bribes taken by Zhou and his family was said to be 129.7 million yuan (~$ 18.87 million). State television showed Zhou pleading guilty with
40768-443: The status of Public Security organs across the country. Somewhat emulating Zhou's concurrently holding party and government posts in addition to his role as Minister of Public Security, the reforms carried out during Zhou's tenure called for provincial and local police chiefs (i.e., heads of Public Security organs) to also hold membership in local party leadership councils as well as leading government posts, and, more importantly, hold
40992-660: The strongest terms, disbanding his "Five Man Group", and replacing it with the Maoist Cultural Revolution Group (CRG). The Cultural Revolution can be divided into two main periods: The early phase was characterized by mass movement and political pluralization. Virtually anyone could create a political organization, even without party approval. Known as Red Guards, these organizations originally arose in schools and universities and later in factories and other institutions. After 1968, most of these organizations ceased to exist, although their legacies were
41216-522: The surface, incredible industrialization, but also caused some of the worst famines in modern history, while still falling short of projected goals. The Great Leap Forward soon came to be seen as one of Mao's greatest mistakes, eventually costing him some of his official status in the Communist Party . In the early 1950s, the PRC and the Soviet Union (USSR) were the world's two largest communist states. Although initially they were mutually supportive, disagreements arose after Nikita Khrushchev took power in
41440-439: The ten affirmations, the fourteen commitments, and the thirteen areas of achievements. The party combines elements of both socialist patriotism and Chinese nationalism . Deng did not believe that the fundamental difference between the capitalist mode of production and the socialist mode of production was central planning versus free markets . He said, "A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there
41664-424: The term socialist market economy, which replaced Chen Yun 's "planned socialist market economy". In his report to the 14th National Congress Jiang Zemin told the delegates that the socialist state would "let market forces play a basic role in resource allocation." At the 15th National Congress, the party line was changed to "make market forces further play their role in resource allocation"; this line continued until
41888-433: The traditionally lax culture of the province's civil service. During Zhou's tenure in Sichuan, the province's GDP grew at an average rate of 9.5% a year. One of his major achievements was securing investments from large multinationals such as Intel . The company opened a new computer chip factory near Chengdu shortly after Zhou left his post in Sichuan. He also focused on improving tourism resources, significantly revamping
42112-413: The travel expenses of Red Guards. At the rallies, Lin called for the destruction of the "Four Olds"; namely, old customs, culture, habits, and ideas. Some changes associated with the "Four Olds" campaign were mainly benign, such as assigning new names to city streets, places, and even people; millions of babies were born with "revolutionary" names. Other aspects were more destructive, particularly in
42336-461: The unfolding of Arab Spring and the subsequent " Jasmine Revolution " movement, the national weiwen budget, valued at 624.4 billion yuan (US$ 95 billion), had exceeded the military budget for the first time in history. On February 20, 2011, Zhou said to assembled officials at a national security conference that law enforcement must "put together a comprehensive system to prevent disturbance and control social order, so that conflict can be resolved at
42560-415: The united front, the old Japan will surely be transformed into a new Japan and the old China into a new China, and people and everything else in both China and Japan will be transformed during and after the war. The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope
42784-414: The victims were teachers who were attacked or killed by their own students. The first such victim was Bian Zhongyun , the deputy principal of Beijing Normal University Female Middle School , who was killed on 5 August by Red Guards following several hours of physical abuse and public humiliation. The leader of the Red Guards, who had organised on campus only days prior, was 19-year-old Song Binbin , who
43008-626: The warlord Wu Peifu but failed. The Soviets then contacted the Kuomintang (KMT), which was leading the Guangzhou government parallel to the Beiyang government . On 6 October 1923, the Comintern sent Mikhail Borodin to Guangzhou, and the Soviets established friendly relations with the KMT. The Central Committee of the CCP , Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , and the Comintern all hoped that
43232-476: The way for disorder in the capital. On 25 May, under the guidance of Cao Yi'ou [ zh ] —wife of Mao loyalist Kang Sheng— Nie Yuanzi , a philosophy lecturer at Peking University , authored a big-character poster along with other leftists and posted it to a public bulletin. Nie attacked the university's party administration and its leader Lu Ping. Nie insinuated that the university leadership, much like Peng, were trying to contain revolutionary fervor in
43456-503: The wilderness of Fujian . Mao Zedong was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and led four regiments against Changsha in the Autumn Harvest Uprising , hoping to spark peasant uprisings across Hunan. His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat, with 1,000 survivors marching east to
43680-456: The world's markets. In reversing some of Mao's "leftist" policies, Deng argued that a socialist state could use the market economy without itself being capitalist. While asserting the political power of the CCP, the change in policy generated significant economic growth. This was justified on the basis that " Practice is the Sole Criterion for the Truth ", a principle reinforced through a 1978 article that aimed to combat dogmatism and criticized
43904-456: Was Zhao Ziyang in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre , and the last PSC members to be put on trial were those of the Gang of Four following the Cultural Revolution. Owing to the far-reaching impact Zhou's case would have on the party as well as the potential for intra-party conflict, Xi also reportedly sought the blessing of former General Secretary Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as well as other 'party elders'. Jiang
44128-433: Was a State Councilor of the State Council 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, before being promoted to the PSC. Zhou retired at the 18th Party Congress in 2012. In late 2013, Zhou was placed under investigation for alleged abuse of power and corruption , a decision state media announced in July 2014. Zhou
44352-415: Was added to the party constitution at the 14th National Congress in 1992. The concepts of " socialism with Chinese characteristics " and "the primary stage of socialism" were credited to the theory. Deng Xiaoping Theory can be defined as a belief that state socialism and state planning is not by definition communist, and that market mechanisms are class neutral. In addition, the party needs to react to
44576-531: Was alleged to have participated personally in the murder of Bian. At a mass rally held on 18 August, Song met Mao, and gifted him a Red Guard armband by tying it around his arm. In September, Shanghai experienced 704 suicides and 534 deaths; in Wuhan, 62 suicides and 32 murders occurred during the same period. Peng Dehuai was brought to Beijing to be publicly ridiculed. Between August and November 1966, eight mass rallies were held, drawing in 12 million people, most of whom were Red Guards. The government bore
44800-478: Was also said to have fired several hundred police officers for drinking problems. Zhou held high-profile "mass study sessions" in an attempt to indoctrinate officers politically on party policies. He also instituted a nationwide "professional training boot camp" intended to streamline police operations and teach officers about professional ethics, making it mandatory for rank-and-file officers to take "professional training" for half of their working day. Zhou also began
45024-424: Was caught off guard by the sudden protest wave and struggled with how to respond. After seeking Mao's guidance in Hangzhou , Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping decided to send in 'work teams'—effectively 'ideological guidance' squads of cadres—to the city's schools and People's Daily to restore some semblance of order and re-establish party control. The work teams had a poor understanding of student sentiment. Unlike
45248-523: Was convicted of corruption-related charges in 2014 and expelled from the CCP in the same year. Zhou rose through the ranks of the CCP through 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 , then China's second most populous province. Zhou
45472-419: Was during this period that Zhou changed his name to "Yongkang" on the advice of his teacher, because there was another person in his class with an identical name. Zhou excelled at school, and was eventually accepted to enroll at the prestigious Suzhou High School , one of the most prominent secondary schools in the Jiangnan region. Zhou had good grades and was involved in extra-curricular activities, including
45696-646: Was filmed and shown to approximately 100 million people in its first month of release. On 22 August, a central directive was issued to prevent police intervention in Red Guard activities, and those in the police force who defied this notice were labeled counter-revolutionaries. Central officials lifted restraints on violent behavior. Xie Fuzhi , the national police chief, often pardoned Red Guards for their "crimes". The campaign included incidents of torture, murder, and public humiliation. Many people who were indicted as counter-revolutionaries died by suicide. During Red August, 1,772 people were murdered in Beijing; many of
45920-411: Was fined 1m yuan ($ 150,000) for bribe-taking. Zhou's son and wife were sentenced to 18 years and 9 years imprisonment respectively. Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ), officially the Communist Party of China ( CPC ), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong , the CCP emerged victorious in
46144-487: Was followed by wide-ranging reforms to local Zhengfawei organs. For example, the practice of lower-level Zhengfawei chiefs concurrently holding the office of police chief (i.e. Public Security) and concurrent government posts was gradually phased out, and the Zhengfawei was discouraged from directly interfering with ongoing investigations or cases. These reforms signaled a reduction in the executive authority of Zhengfawei chiefs in favour of better checks and balances in
46368-415: Was founded on 1 July 1921 with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International , according to the party's official account of its history. However, party documents suggest that the party's actual founding date was 23 July 1921, the first day of the 1st National Congress of the CCP . The founding National Congress of
46592-467: Was looked upon as a means of hostile foreign infiltration, as well as an instrument of the ruling class. Clergy were arrested and sent to camps; many Tibetan Buddhists were forced to participate in the destruction of their monasteries at gunpoint. In October 1966, Mao convened a "Central Work Conference", mostly to enlist party leaders who had not yet adopted the latest ideology. Liu and Deng were prosecuted and begrudgingly offered self-criticism. After
46816-422: Was not actively anti-communist at that time, even though he hated the theory of class struggle and the CCP's seizure of power. The communists proposed removing Chiang's power. When Chiang gradually gained the support of Western countries, the conflict between him and the communists became more and more intense. Chiang asked the Kuomintang to join the Comintern to rule out the secret expansion of communists within
47040-404: Was one of the earliest examples of mass arrests, detainments, and killings across all of China that would later be mirrored in the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward, similar to the Five-year plans of the Soviet Union , was Mao Zedong's proposal to make the newly created People's Republic of China an industrial superpower. Beginning in 1958, the Great Leap Forward did produce, at least on
47264-441: Was one of the reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Therefore, Shambaugh argues, Chinese policy-makers believe that their party ideology must be dynamic to safeguard the party's rule. British sinologist Kerry Brown argues that the CCP does not have an ideology, and that the party organization is pragmatic and interested only in what works. The party itself argues against this assertion. Hu Jintao stated in 2012 that
47488-425: Was particularly involved in the Sudan Nile petroleum project, including the construction of the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline , CNPC's first major project outside of China. Zhou travelled to the African country 14 times. Beginning in 1996, Zhou became general manager (chief executive) of the CNPC. As chief executive, Zhou was instrumental in the company's restructuring and the preparation of the initial public offering of
47712-436: Was purely capitalist, it would exclude an alternative socialist form of modernity. Globalization, as with the market economy, therefore does not have one specific class character (neither socialist nor capitalist) according to the party. The insistence that globalization is not fixed in nature comes from Deng's insistence that China can pursue socialist modernization by incorporating elements of capitalism. Because of this there
47936-405: Was ranked ninth in the party leadership hierarchy, Zhou, dubbed China's "security tsar " by select English-language media, emerged as one of the Standing Committee's most important members, and believed as one of China's most powerful men after CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao . In his position as national Zhengfawei chief, Zhou oversaw extensive security preparations for
48160-412: Was rife with speculation about the 'treatment' Zhou was to receive. However, Zhou's trial unexpectedly took place behind closed doors. On June 11, state media made an announcement – without any apparent warning – that Zhou's verdict had already been reached. The official report on Zhou's trial was brief, and stated that he had been convicted on all three charges. The legal sentence, according to
48384-439: Was rumoured to be next-in-line to Zhou's powerful position of Legal and Political Committee ( Zhengfawei ) Secretary, and thus the Standing Committee. Zhou had a close relationship with Bo, and he was reportedly acquainted with Wang Lijun as far back as his early days as mayor of Panjin. On Zhou's 2010 visit to Chongqing, he publicly endorsed Bo's "Red Songs" and "Strike Black" campaigns ( Chinese : 唱红打黑 ), showing enthusiasm for
48608-439: Was said to have met with Xi several times in Beijing between June and July to discuss Zhou Yongkang. During these meetings, Xi was said to have directly elaborated to Jiang on Zhou's alleged crimes, as well as convincing Jiang of the potential harm to the party and the state if Zhou was not brought down. Jiang, though initially reluctant, eventually threw his weight behind Xi. Jiang subsequently applauded Xi's leadership skills during
48832-416: Was searched by the authorities twice. Yuanxing died in December 2013 after a battle with cancer. Zhou Yongkang and his son Zhou Bin were not present at the funeral, fuelling speculation that Zhou and his family members were all in custody. Zhou's family reportedly made billions of dollars by investing in the oil industry, of which Zhou had headed the largest company, China National Petroleum Corp. According to
49056-464: Was sentenced to life in prison. Born Zhou Yuangen ( Chinese : 周元根 ) in December 1942, Zhou is a native of Xiqiantou Village (西前头村), Wuxi County , in Jiangsu province . Xiqiantou is located 18 kilometers (11 mi) outside Wuxi city proper. The majority of Xiqiantou residents were surnamed " Zhou ". Zhou took on the surname of his mother because his father, whose surname was Lu, was a 'live-in son-in-law' of his maternal grandparents. Upon joining
49280-413: Was suspended from the Politburo, Zhou held a national conference call with police officials, publicly declaring, "police officers must [...] understand what political position they need to take, maintain the correct political course, and always remain in line with the party centre led by comrade Hu Jintao as its General Secretary." On May 14, 2012, the Financial Times reported that Zhou had relinquished
49504-514: Was the first Politburo Standing Committee member – and the most senior-ranked official – since the founding of the People's Republic of China to be tried and convicted of corruption-related charges. Following his investigation, Zhou was expelled from the CCP. On June 11, 2015, Zhou was convicted of bribery, abuse of power and the intentional disclosure of state secrets by the Intermediate Court in Tianjin . Zhou and his family members were said to have taken 129 million yuan (over $ 20 million) in bribes. He
49728-470: Was the first provincial level government overthrown. Provincial governments and many parts of the state and party bureaucracy were affected, with power seizures taking place. In the next three weeks, 24 more province-level governments were overthrown. "Revolutionary committees" were subsequently established, in place of local governments and branches of the Communist Party. For example, in Beijing, three separate revolutionary groups declared power seizures on
49952-461: Was through "the telescope and microscope of Mao Zedong Thought ." While the party leadership was relatively united in approving Mao's agenda, many Politburo members were not enthusiastic, or simply confused about the direction. The charges against party leaders such as Peng disturbed China's intellectual community and the eight non-Communist parties . After the purge of Peng Zhen, the Beijing Party Committee effectively ceased to function, paving
50176-403: Was to preserve Chinese socialism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society . Though it failed to achieve its main objectives, the Cultural Revolution marked the effective return of Mao to the center of power in China after his political sidelining , in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Chinese Famine . In May 1966, with the help of
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