Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken direct control of a key law enforcement agency, according to Communist Party state-run media outlets.
In order to focus concern on the reform of China’s legal system, Xi took direct charge over China’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC). Xi’s taking charge was an “upgrade” of the government’s control of the agency, according to media outlets–members of the Politburo Standing Committee had been in charge of PLAC in times past.
Xi criticized government corruption harshly at a Central PLAC meeting early this year, and vowed to eliminate corruption and corrupt officials with “the strongest will and the strongest action.”
Xi’s government put former PLAC leader Zhou Yongkang–a top ally of former Chineseleader Jiang Zemin–under formal investigation in July. Under Zhou, PLAC had become a highly powerful organization in charge of all law enforcement authorities, including the Ministry of Public Security, the Armed Police, the courts, the Procuratorate, and prison and labor camps.
Religious practitioners such as Falun Gong members were persecuted under PLAC’s authority, after being banned in 1999. Practitioners were detained, tortured and brainwashed under Zhou.
Petitioners and rights defenders were also suppressed under PLAC and Zhou.
By Sid Douglas