With Chen Guangcheng now having come to the US, the question of who has been behind his persecution, and the persecution of all dissidents in China, is drawing more and more attention.
The Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the CCP, oversees all legal authorities in China, including intelligence, law and order, security, detention, and judicial and procuratorial agencies.
Zhou Yongkang, who is reported to have just been stripped of his authority, was promoted to the head of the committee in 2007.
In this position, Zhou was the highest ranking member of the Jiang Zemin faction, which is known in China as the “blood-debt gang”. These are CCP cadres that were promoted to high ranking posts under former leader Jiang Zemin because they zealously suppressed the Falun Gong meditation practice.
As the head of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, Zhou’s tasks have been varied. Zhou has been involved in silencing the protests of parents of children who were trapped under poorly constructed school buildings in the 2008 earthquake. He also directed troops in Tibet after the widespread protests there.
The budget for the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee is greater than the budget for the military. According to official data released by the CCP, in 2011 the budget for the stability maintenance rose by 15.6 percent to 549 billion yuan or about 87 billion US dollars, while the military budget was 533.4 billion yuan or about 85 billion US dollars.
According to Clearwisdom.com, official documents leaked from the 610 Office, which is a the Party organ set up by Jiang Zemin for the purpose of eradicating Falun Gong, show that as director of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee Zhou Yongkang and Luo Gan, the previous head of the PLAC, each gave permission to police to “perform medical treatments while transforming Falun Gong practitioners if necessary.” At least 11 Falun Gong practitioners are known to have died of injections with drugs that damage the central nervous system.
In 2001, during a visit to the United States, Zhou was sued for crimes against humanity.
Because of his active participation in Jiang Zemin’s persecution of Falun Gong, he was promoted to the position of minister of the Department of Public Security, in 2002.
