[Epoch Times, July 17, 2021](Reported by Hong Kong Epoch Times reporter Dongfang Hao) On the eve of the Beidaihe Conference, which is about the deployment of the top 20 high-level personnel, Jiang Zemin’s faction controlled the CCP’s external propaganda and served as the President of the CCP’s Supreme Court, Zhou Qiang’er. The top ten became the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee to build public opinion. At a sensitive moment, Zhou Qiang’s subordinate and the Executive Director of the Supreme Court, Meng Xiang, fell from the horse. Whether the incident affected Zhou Qiang, it became the focal point of the CCP’s high-level infighting.
On July 4, 2021, the headquarter published an article “Who is holding the “knife” after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China” on the Beijing University Foreign Propaganda website. In addition to three of Xi Jinping’s confidants, Wang Xiaohong, Executive Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, Ying Yong, Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, and Chen Yixin, Secretary-General of the Political and Legal Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Zhou Qiang was specifically named. Zhou Qiang was the most inked among these four.
Executive Director of the Supreme Court Meng Xiang sacked
On July 16, 2021, Meng Xiang, a member of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme Court of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Executive Bureau, was notified that “suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law” was under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The report rarely does not include Meng Xiang’s resume.
Meng Xiang is the 16th senior official to be sacked since 2020. Previously, Yu Zhigang, former vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, Li Wenxi, former vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial CPPCC, Song Liang, executive vice governor of Gansu Province, Xie Changjun, former deputy general manager of Guodian Group, Wang Fuyu, former chairman of the Guizhou Provincial CPPCC, and former chairman of the Shandong Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee Deputy Director Zhang Xinqi, former Deputy Director of the “610” Office of the Central Committee Peng Bo, former Party Secretary and Chairman of China North Industries Group Corporation Yin Jiaxu, Vice Governor of Shanxi Province and Director of Provincial Public Security Department Liu Xinyun, Vice Chairman of Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Xiao Yi, Pan Jiahua, former member of the Party Leadership Group of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, Gan Rongkun, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Political and Legal Committee, Meng Yongshan, Procurator General of the Qinghai Provincial Procuratorate, Liu Chuansheng, former Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Normal University, and Xu Ming, former Deputy Director of the State Food Administration, have all fallen.
Meng Xiang has served in the Beijing court system for a long time
According to public information, Meng Xiang, male, Han nationality, was born in February 1965 in Baoding, Hebei. Meng Xiang served in the Beijing court system for more than 30 years.
In March 2021, after the CCP’s “Political and Legal Education Rectification” Leading Group sent a central supervision team to various provinces and cities, many people in the Beijing court system fell.
On May 19, Tian Yuxi, the former vice-president of Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court, was investigated nearly 7 years after his retirement.
On March 23, She Guiqing, a member of the Beijing Internet Court’s party group, vice president, member of the adjudication committee, and judge, was investigated.
On March 18, Li Jianping, deputy director of the Political Department, Director of the Cadre Division, judge, and second-level inspector of the Beijing Higher Court was investigated.
On March 12, Guo Yanzhi, chief of the Civil Division No. 1 of the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, member of the adjudication committee, judge, and second-level senior judge, was investigated.
During Meng Xiang’s tenure in Beijing’s court system, he had a relationship with the sacked Tian Yuxi, She Guiqing, and Li Jianping.
Zhou Qiang promoted the old department in the Supreme Court
In addition, Meng Xiang was transferred to the Supreme Court during Zhou Qiang’s tenure as President of the Supreme Court. Since 2016, he has served as Director of the Executive Bureau of the Supreme Court and is an important subordinate of Zhou Qiang.
Zhou Qiang was born in 1960 in Huangmei, Hubei. Zhou Qiang was assigned to the Ministry of Justice in 1985. In 1993, he was appraised by Xiao Yang, then Minister of Justice, and was assigned to the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Justice as an assistant to the director. Six months later, Zhou Qiang returned to Beijing and served as Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Justice and Director of the Minister’s Office, becoming Xiao Yang’s “Secretary.”
Since then, Zhou Qiang’s career has been smooth, and he has served as the Director of the Laws and Regulations Department of the Ministry of Justice, becoming a cadre at the department level. After just six months, the 35-year-old Zhou Qiang, under the strong recommendation of Xiao Yang, was transferred to the Communist Youth League Central Committee as secretary of the Secretariat. Two years later, he was promoted to the first secretary. Since 2006, Zhou Qiang has served as acting governor of Hunan Province, and in 2007, he has served as governor of Hunan Province. In April 2010, after Zhang Chunxian was transferred to the party committee secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the Communist Party of China, Zhou Qiang took over as the secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. In 2013, he succeeded Wang Shengjun as the President of the Supreme Court.
In addition to Xiao Yang as the backer, Xin Ziling, a scholar within the system, once claimed that Zhou Qiang was Jiang Zemin’s man in the early days of his career, and he followed Jiang Zemin and Zhou Yongkang from the Hunan officialdom to the Supreme Court.
Zhou Qiang involved in multiple scandals
In the case of Zeng Chengjie who was executed in 2013, Zhou Qiang, who had just assumed the presidency of the Supreme Court, was accused of collaborating with Hunan officials to conceal “black attacks” and seize wealth (Zeng Chengjie’s corporate assets were sold at a low price before the first instance). Promoted to an official position to “maintain stability” without scrutiny.
On January 14, 2017, Zhou Qiang made a request to courts across the country at the National High Court Presidents’ Meeting: Resolutely resist the influence of Western constitutional democracy, the separation of powers, and judicial independence and other “wrong thoughts”, and dare to shine a sword on Western judicial independence. Zhou Qiang’s words completely shattered the dream of the rule of law of Chinese legal professionals. On January 18, 2017, the Beijing legal circle initiated an online joint letter to ask Zhou Qiang to “resign”, pointing directly to “Where is the Chief Justice of China, but the Chief Dafa Blind!”
However, Zhou Qiang is still in a solid position, and the court system under his leadership subsequently carried out judgments against 709 human rights lawyers and human rights defenders.
At the end of December 2018, Shaanxi’s “100 billion mining rights case” was detonated. Cui Yongyuan disclosed the “secret documents” approved by Zhou Qiang, the president of the Supreme Court, and others, which involved interference with justice. In February 2019, the joint investigation team led by the Political and Legal Committee of the Communist Party of China announced the results of the investigation, claiming that the reporter Wang Linqing wrote and directed himself, so that Zhou Qiang was temporarily safe.
Analysis: Meng Xiang’s fall may implicate Zhou Qiang
Meng Xiang was investigated at the time of the education and rectification of the national political and legal team. The rectification was initiated at the end of February 2021. The rectification of political and legal units at the city and county levels was completed a few days ago. The rectification plan for central political and legal units such as the Supreme Court and provincial political and legal units will be launched in August for a period of three months.
Current political commentator Li Yanming analyzed that the rectification of the Supreme Court and other central political and legal units and provincial political and legal units has not yet begun. The Executive Director of the Supreme Court Meng Xiang’s first dismissal should be caused by the Beijing court system. It is expected that, as the rectification action starts in August, more senior officials may be involved in the Supreme Court system.
Li Yanming analyzed that the Xi Jinping camp could not wait for the rectification of the Supreme Court system to begin. Instead, it rushed to take down Zhou Qiang’s cronies, Meng Xiang, on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting, which is crucial to the personnel layout of the top 20 top executives. The political signal is intriguing.
Editor in charge: Lian Shuhua#
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