

(By Calton – CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The daughter-in-law of China’s former security tsar Zhou Yongkang has revealed on Twitter that she has not seen her husband for 2 months, and has criticized the Communist Party elite for not implementing a fair judicial system based on the rule of law.

On January 31 Huang Wan, the daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang, wrote on Twitter that she had not seen her husband for 2 months.

今天是这个月最后一天，我已经两个月没有见到我的丈夫了。这里，有太多的女人见不到她们的丈夫，维权人士、律师、商人、官员……。马上就是春节了，合家欢聚的日子，但我见不到我的丈夫，他安全吗？他还在世吗？我不知道！有人威胁我，如果我发表言论会对我不好。哈哈！我的丈夫是周滨，他的父亲是周永 — Wan Huang (@WanHuang2) January 31, 2019

“Today is the last day of the month,” she wrote. “It’s already been two months since I last saw my husband. Here [in China] there are many women who cannot see their husbands, [wives of] human rights activists, lawyers, businessmen, government officials … It will soon be Chinese New Year, a time when families gather together, but I cannot see my husband. Is he safe? Is he still alive? I don’t know! Some people are threatening me, [saying that] it’s not good for me if I post something. Ha ha! My husband is Zhou Bin, his father is Zhou Yongkang.”

Zhou Yongkang was once one of the most powerful men in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). At the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2007, Zhou was promoted to the Standing Committee of the Politburo.

According to a report issued by the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in 2008, Zhou was associated with “harsh policies that contribute to the repression of human rights such as the freedoms of religion and expression, and that undermine ethnic minority rights guaranteed by China’s Constitution and system of regional ethnic autonomy.”

After the rise of Xi Jinping and the launch of his anti-corruption campaign, Zhou Yongkang was investigated and charged with taking bribes, abuse of power and intentionally leaking state secrets. In June 2015

the Tianjin No.1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, stripped him of all political rights and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets.

In 2016, Zhou Bin, Zhou Yongkang’s son, was sentenced by the Yichang City Intermediate People’s Court to 18 years in prison for taking bribes and illegal business operations. He was fined 350.2 million yuan (about US$53 million) and all of his assets were confiscated.

On February 1, Hong Kong-based news outlet Apple Daily interviewed Chen Yixuan, the lawyer that represented Zhou Bin during his trial. Chen confirmed that Huang Wan’s Twitter account is real.

Huang posted tweets criticizing China’s lack of rule of law, and condemning her own failure when she was a member of the regime’s privileged elite.

我作为周永康的家属，我要对所有在周永康执掌政法委期间遭受不公平待遇的公民说声道歉，你们维权的路上异常艰难，我也踏上了这条路。我呼吁所有中国在职的官员，你们想一想，你们的官位是否能大过周永康，他尚且无法保护家人，有一天轮到你们的时候能保护吗？法制的健全和执行才能保护所有公民的权利！ — Wan Huang (@WanHuang2) February 1, 2019

On February 1 she wrote:

As a relative of Zhou Yongkang, I want to issue an apology to all the citizens who suffered unfair treatment when he was leading the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. The path towards the recognition of your human rights has been a hard one, and now I find myself on that path, too. I call on all government officials in China to think carefully if your official position is greater than the one Zhou Yongkang once had. If he couldn’t protect his family, will you be able to protect your families when it’s your turn? Only the development and enforcement of the rule of law can protect the rights of all citizens!

我是黄婉，美国公民，周滨的妻子，周永康的长儿媳。我目前人在北京，接受社区矫正，滞留在中国已经五年。我的处境并不安全，但我愿以无惧做最真诚的忏悔，忏悔当我享受特权的时候对维护司法的健全毫无作为。希望我的遭遇能让当权者有所警醒，维护法律的尊严与公正是为自己也是为家人。 — Wan Huang (@WanHuang2) February 2, 2019

In a tweet from February 2 she wrote:

I am Huang Wan, a US citizen, the wife of Zhou Bin and daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang. I am serving a community correction sentence, I have been detained in China for five years already. My situation is not safe. But I want to express my sincere regret. I regret that when I enjoyed privileges, I didn’t do anything to protect the development of the judicial system. I hope that what has happened to me will awaken those in power. Protecting the rule of law and justice is the only way to protect your own family.

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