Zhou Xiaozhou (politician)

After the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Zhou served as the Communist Party Secretary of his home province between 1953 and 1957.

At the Mountain Lu Conference in 1959, Zhou Xiaozhou and his successor, Zhou Hui, along with Huang Kecheng and Zhang Wentian, lent their support to Peng Dehuai in questioning the wisdom of the Great Leap Forward.

He was thus branded a traitor, stripped of his positions, and sent to re-education through labour.

In 1962, Zhou was restored to an academic position in Guangzhou, seemingly regaining his political footing.

However, at the outset of the Cultural Revolution, Zhou became an easy target for abuse due to his role in criticizing the Great Leap Forward, and committed suicide by drug overdose at the age of 54.