The HNA Group, which is considered to have “close ties” with Wang Qishan’s Family, filed for bankruptcy reorganization on the 29th. Coincidentally, Wang Qishan’s former secretary of Haikou, Zhang Qi, has just been named and criticized by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and further back in October last year, Dong Hong, a former deputy ministerial inspector of the Central Inspection Group of the Communist Party of China, was investigated for allegedly committing serious disciplinary offences. The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of services to the public.
On January 29, HNA Group issued a statement saying that it had received a notice from the Hainan Provincial High Court that the relevant creditors had applied for bankruptcy reorganization of HNA Group because HNA could not pay off its debts as they fell due. The statement said that the group will cooperate with the court to conduct judicial review and promote debt disposal to ensure smooth production and operation of the enterprise.
Previously, HNA Group announced on the 26th confirmed the members of the new party committee, Gu Gang was elected secretary of the new HNA Group party committee, and Chen Feng, founder, chairman and former secretary of the party committee of HNA Group, was not elected as a member of the new HNA Group party committee.
Founded in 2000, HNA Group’s business includes aviation, tourism, real estate, industry, finance, logistics, science and technology, and is a mega multinational enterprise. By July 2016, HNA Group was a Fortune 500 company, ranking 353rd with a revenue of US$29.56 billion, a substantial increase of 111 places over the previous year.
However, HNA, which is known as the backbone of Hainan, has struggled with more than $93 billion in foreign debt after a major overseas merger and acquisition expansion in 2013. In February 2020, HNA was taken over by the government, and the group was forced to sell assets to pay off its debts as the Chinese Communist Party cracked down on corporate outflows.
The crisis at HNA is believed to be linked to internal strife within the Chinese Communist Party. HNA Group has long been considered a sphere of influence for Wang Qishan’s family, and the group’s top executives have close ties with Wang Qishan.
In February 2018, HNA Group co-founder and chairman Wang Jian, in a speech at a special meeting of the HNA board of directors, said the HNA incident was a political event, a “crazy counterattack” by domestic and foreign reactionary forces against rising Chinese companies! In July of the same year, Wang Jian died in France.
Free Asia’s “Ears to the Wind” commented on the 29th that although rumors that HNA is the sphere of influence of Wang Qishan’s family cannot be confirmed, Wang Qishan was the secretary of Hainan, where HNA is headquartered, and the group’s origins are indeed closely related to Hainan.
What’s more coincidental is that the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China published an article on the 27th criticizing Zhang Qi, the former secretary of Haikou, who followed Wang Qishan in Hainan, for “enriching himself by the land”, “making money by sitting on the land” and “making money through the island”.
“The case of Zhang Qi was concluded at the end of last year, and the Discipline Inspection Commission suddenly and coincidentally reintroduced the case at this sensitive moment, which will indeed give the outside world a sense of “scolding” and “excessive coincidence”!
What is more coincidental is that Xi Jinping and seven other members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Political Bureau recently held the fifth plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The rare absence of CPC Vice Chairman Wang Qishan, who is also the former secretary of the CCDI, has sparked speculation. Xi’s speech unveiled signals of power struggle, which were considered “murderous” and unusual by outsiders.
Wang Qishan has been accused of deteriorating relations with Xi Jinping. When the HNA Group was taken over by the government in February last year, some commentators said it marked a showdown between Xi and Wang and a parting of the ways.
In March of the same year, Jiang Chaoliang, a former member of Wang Qishan’s party committee in Hubei province, was removed from his post for ineffective resistance to the Epidemic and replaced by Ying Yong, the mayor of Shanghai, a former member of Xi’s party committee; on Sept. 22, Ren Zhiqiang, a close friend of Wang Qishan and a second-generation real estate tycoon, was sentenced to 18 years; and on Oct. 2, Dong Hong, a former deputy ministerial-level inspector of the Central Inspection Group, Wang Qishan’s “big butler,” was taken away for investigation.
In October last year, Dong Hong, the former deputy ministerial inspector of the Central Inspection Group, who has long followed Wang Qishan, was also said to be “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” and was subject to investigation. Dong Hong has been known as Wang Qishan’s “big butler”, so his fall has also provoked much discussion.
The two have been in a low profile for the past two years, confirming that their relationship is indeed fractured and that Xi is taking precautions against Wang. In Xi’s view, there are dark currents in the Communist Party, and all factions are threatening his security.
China expert Chen Bukong said that although Wang Qishan and Xi had a friendship and later cooperated at the top, especially in the first five years of Xi’s rise to power, the “Xi-Wang system” entered the Xi and Wang Huning system in the second five years.
The relationship between Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan is very delicate, as Wang’s prestige, seniority and ability are much higher than Xi’s, and the party both hates and fears him, but in the totalitarian system of the Communist Party, the “hand” must solve all those who may threaten his position. This is Xi’s mentality.”
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