You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (March 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:周强]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|zh|周强}} to the talk page.
Previously, he served as the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Hunan committee, the effective head of the province of Hunan.[1] He served as the province's governor between 2007 and 2010. Zhou also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China between 1998 and 2006. Between 2018 and 2023, he served as the chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court.
In November 1995, he was elected secretary of the central secretariat of the Chinese Communist Youth League (CYL) at the 4th plenary session of the 13th CYL central committee. In June 1998, he was elevated to first secretary of the CYL central secretariat, and was re-elected in July 2003.
In February 2007, Zhou was appointed governor of Hunan, after a five-month period that saw him made a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CCP Hunan committee (September 3), and then acting governor of Hunan (September 30), appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress; he resigned as first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL in December. He was re-elected governor of Hunan on January 24, 2008.
Like other top Chinese leaders, Zhou spoke often of promoting the 'rule of law' and was thought to be aligned with CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer.[3] Indeed, in his first few years in office, Zhou overturned several court decisions as unjust, including the wrongful execution of Nie Shubin in 1995; granted judges more independence; and restricted local officials' influence over court rulings, although ultimately courts at all levels had to answer to the party leadership.[4]
But in 2017, speaking at a Supreme People's Court meeting on January 14, Zhou warned the courts against the 'idea of judicial independence'. He said:
[China's courts] must firmly resist the western idea of "constitutional democracy", "separation of powers" and "judicial independence". These are erroneous western notions that threaten the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and defame the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law. We have to raise our flag and show our sword to struggle against such thoughts. We must not fall into the trap of western thoughts and judicial independence. We must stay firm on the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law.[4]
Zhou Zhou dynasty Western Zhou Later Zhou Eastern Zhou Northern Zhou Predynastic Zhou King An of Zhou Duke of Zhou King Kuang of Zhou King Hui of Zhou King Mu of Zhou Rites of Zhou King Zhao of Zhou Zhou Enlai Zhou–Chu War Zhou (administrative division) King Ding of Zhou King Si of Zhou King Yih of Zhou King Zhending of Zhou King Xuan of Zhou King Jian of Zhou Zhou Xiaochuan King Ai of Zhou King Ping of Zhou King Wu of Zhou King Xiang of Zhou Bibi Zhou Zhou Youguang Zhou Yimiao King Weilie of Zhou King Dao of Zhou King Kang of Zhou King Kao of Zhou King Qing of Zhou Cica Zhou Queen Zhou the …
Elder King Cheng of Zhou Qiyu Zhou King Lie of Zhou King Ling of Zhou King Zhuang of Zhou Shirley Zhou Zhou Xiaowen King Xiao of Zhou Zhou Jianchao King Li of Zhou King Huan of Zhou Zhou Dunyi King Xian of Zhou King You of Zhou Zhou Yu's Train Zhou Yi (musician) Zhou Brothers Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou Zhou Guanyu Zhou Xun King Gong of Zhou Jing of Zhou Empress Zhou Zhou Tong (archer) Betty Zhou Zhou Qi King Nan of Zhou Stella Zhou Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project Zhou Shoujuan Zhou Tongqing Zhou dynasty nobility Book of Zhou Consort Zhou Zhou Lüxin Zhou Yang King Wen of Zhou King Jing of Zhou (Gai) King Yi of Zhou (Xie) King Zhou of Shang Zhou dynasty (690–705) Yi Zhou Shu Zhou Chunxiu King Xi of Zhou Zhou Ji Zhou Weizhi King Jing of Zhou (Gui) Zhou Fang Zhou Mingzhen Zhou Wenjun Zhou Yu Zhou Haodong Zhou Chao Zhou Jiawei Zhou Yun Zhou Yan Zhou Xin (Han dynasty) Zhou Jihong Zhou Wenzhong Zhou Yihan Zhou Sui'an King Shenjing of Zhou Zhou Nan Zhou Yongjun incident Zhou Zhennan Zhou Zhonghe Zhou Xuan Zhou Yafei Zhou Bangxin Min Zhou William Zhou Zhou Guangzhao Zhou Haibin Zhou Zhi-Hua Zhou Yahui Zhou Chaochen Zhou Jiannan King Xie of Zhou Zhou Suying Han (NW Zhou state) Zhou We