Zhou Yongkang 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 was convicted of corruption-related charges in 2014 and expelled from the CCP in the same year.