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Guo Rui

The daughter-in-law of China’s disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang has appealed publicly to President Xi Jinping for leniency and to be allowed to return to the United States.
Huang Wan, who migrated to the US when she was 15, also faces eviction from her home in Beijing after a district court ordered her to leave before Thursday.
“Although I am an American citizen, I face restrictions [in China] that I cannot leave the country and I have nowhere to turn to for help,” Huang, 49, wrote in an open letter.
“My parents are now almost 80 years old and I have been separated from them for seven years.
“My only wish is to go home with my child … Please let us go home.”

She confirmed to the South China Morning Post on Tuesday that she wrote the open letter because she had run out of options.
“I am willing to give up everything I have [in China]. I just want to go back to the US where my parents live,” she said.
Zhou was the country’s most powerful security official before being jailed for life five years ago for taking bribes, abuse of power and intentionally leaking state secrets, according to the official verdict. The court also ordered seizure of all his assets.
Along with former Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai, Zhou is one of the most senior officials to be brought down in a corruption case since Xi came to power in 2012.
The rise and fall of Zhou Yongkang: From rural Jiangsu to the corridors of power
Although Huang was not officially charged in connection with Zhou, she was first detained in late 2013 and then put under residential surveillance for almost a year before spending 18 months in a detention centre in Hubei province and then being ordered to serve three years of probation subject to community supervision.
After she completed her probation, Huang wanted to leave China with her daughter but a court in Beijing’s Chaoyang district prevented her from doing so, saying she was involved in a civil case related to her mother in the US.

According to Huang, she could not settle the civil case because all her assets had been frozen by Chinese courts in relation to her husband’s corruption case. Zhou Bin, the elder son of Zhou Yongkang, is serving an 18-year sentence for taking 222 million yuan (US$34 million) in bribes in concert with his father and others, according to the official verdict.
“The court said I cannot leave China because I am the daughter of my mother, who is the defendant,” she said. “But there has been no hearing and no trial for 18 months and I still cannot leave.”
She said she last met Zhou Bin in October but would not discuss the conditions of his sentence.
Buyers snap up luxury cars of executed Chinese crime boss linked to disgraced security tsar
She said she faced eviction from her home because a court in Yichang, Hubei province, was carrying out an order in relation to the case against Jiang Jiemin, former chairman of CNPC, China’s biggest petroleum company. Jiang was jailed for 16 years in 2015 for corruption and was known as a close ally of Zhou Yongkang.
“I received a notice from the Yichang court on December 21 giving me 10 days’ notice to leave the house,” she said, adding that the court refused to show her the documents in Jiang’s case relating to the seizure of her property.
Huang said US embassy staff had tried to help her resolve her difficulties but she did not know what else to do.
“I have now packed my things but I don’t know where I will go,” she said.


The embassy did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Chen Yixuan, Zhou Bin’s appeal lawyer, said that if Zhou Bin was a party in Jiang’s case, he should have been called as a co-defendant or witness, but neither happened.
“This enforcement by the court is against the law,” Chen said. “If the court wants to evict Huang from her house and confiscate all her property, then why not let her go back to the US?”
He said the authorities were afraid that Huang, who was married to Zhou Bin for 25 years, would reveal sensitive information if she left China.
“In China, she does not have free speech at all,” Chen said.


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Corruption in China

‘Let us go home’: US relative of corrupt China security chief pleads with Xi Jinping

Huang Wan is married to Zhou Bin, son of former security chief Zhou Yongkang. Photo: Handout

Zhou Yongkang, China's former domestic security chief, stands between his police escorts as he listens to his sentence in a court in Tianjin, China, in this still image taken from video provided by China Central Television and shot on June 11, 2015. According to CCTV, Zhou was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday, deprived of his political rights for life and his personal assets confiscated, for accepting bribes, abusing power and deliberately disclosing state secrets, the Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled in its first instance. Zhou pleaded guilty and will not appeal. REUTERS/China Central Television via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS - CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE.THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Zhou Bin, son of Zhou Yongkang and husband of Huang Wan, is serving an 18-year jail sentence for corruption. Photo: Handout

Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai among elite prisoners in China’s ‘tigers’ cage’ Qincheng growing vegetables and wearing suits

A policewoman tries to stop media from taking photos at the entrance to Qincheng prison. Many of the inmates at the maximum security jail are household names in China. Photo: AFP

Zhou Yongkang, China's former domestic security chief, sits between his police escorts as he listens to his sentence in a court in Tianjin, China, in this still image taken from video provided by China Central Television and shot on June 11, 2015. According to CCTV, Zhou was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday, deprived of his political rights for life and his personal assets confiscated, for accepting bribes, abusing power and deliberately disclosing state secrets, the Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled in its first instance. Zhou pleaded guilty and will not appeal. REUTERS/China Central Television via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS - CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE.THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

(FILES) This file picture taken on September 22, 2013 and released by Jinan Intermediate People's Court shows Chinese political star Bo Xilai (2nd R) wearing a pair of handkuffs as he stands in a courtroom in Jinan, east China's Shandong province. A Chinese court will consider an appeal by fallen Communist Party star Bo Xilai after he was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power last month, a statement said on October 9, 2013. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO / Jinan Intermediate People's Court ----EDITORS NOTE---- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / JINAN INTERMEDIATE PEOPLE'S COURT " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Buyers snap up luxury cars of executed Chinese crime boss linked to disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang

A Ferrari owned by Liu featured in the auction. Photo: SCMP Pictures

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATN. CAR26. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

Liu Han

Wang Jianping was taken away while on an inspection trip in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Thursday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Tian Xiusi, former political commissar of Air Force with PLA. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

A screen shot from China's CCTV news program shows Zhou Yongkang, then Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of security, stands in court to for his trial verdict. Zhou was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday, June 11, 2015 by a court in Tianjin on charges of receiving bribes, abuse of power, and leaking state secrets following a closed-door trial. (handout)

Nephew of disgraced former Chinese security tsar Zhou Yongkang jailed for corruption

Sentencing comes just days after that of Zhou Yongkang’s wife and son

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Zhou Feng, cousin of Zhou Bin. (Handout)

Zhou Bin, Zhou Yongkang’s son, was jailed for 18 years on Wednesday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

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American daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang writes open letter to president, appealing to him to let her leave the country
Huang Wan says she faces eviction and cannot settle her legal problems because of court seizure of her assets



Daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang writes open letter to president, appealing to him to let her leave the country.


‘Let us go home’: US relative of corrupt China security chief pleads with Xi Jinping

American daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang writes open letter to president, appealing to him to let her leave the country Huang Wan says she faces eviction and cannot settle her legal problems because of court seizure of her assets

American daughter-in-law of Zhou Yongkang writes open letter to president, appealing to him to let her leave the country

Huang Wan says she faces eviction and cannot settle her legal problems because of court seizure of her assets