China’s local political and legal officials have been purged again, with the official announcement yesterday (9) that Liu Xinyun, vice governor of Shanxi Province and head of the provincial public security department, was investigated. On the same day, Wang Zhizhong became vice governor of Guangdong Province and head of the Public Security Bureau, who is the deputy of Xi Jinping’s close friend Wang Xiaohong, executive vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security. Early analysis suggests that Xi Jinping wants to ensure a tight grip on the political and legal system, also known as the “knife handle,” before the 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022.
The official website of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) informed on the afternoon of April 9 that Liu Xinyun, vice governor of Shanxi Province and director of the provincial public security department, is suspected of serious disciplinary violations and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the CCDI State Supervision Commission.
Previously, on April 7, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Political and Legal Affairs Committee’s organ “Rule of Law Daily” reported that the third central supervisory group of the Communist Party of China’s national political and legal team education and rectification was stationed in Shanxi; the supervisory group was stationed in Shanxi to supervise and mobilize the second link of deployment was held recently in Taiyuan, and Liu Xinyun also attended the meeting.
Public information shows that Liu Xinyun was born in September 1962, a native of Zibo, Shandong Province, worked in the Shandong police system for many years, and is currently the vice governor of Shanxi Province, a member of the provincial government’s party group, director of the provincial Public Security Department, party secretary.
The CCP’s political and legal system includes courts, procuratorates and judicial administrative organs, public security organs and state security organs, as well as the Political and Legal Committee itself. The CCP has continued to purge the political and legal system over the past year. Chen Xinxin, one of Xi Jinping’s inner circle and secretary-general of the CPC Central Committee’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission, claimed on July 8 last year that he would launch a “bone scraping ‘Yan’an rectification'” in the country’s political and legal forces. Before that, Sun Lijun, the former vice minister of the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security, was investigated in April; Deng Zuling, the former vice mayor and public security chief of Chongqing, was investigated in June; and Gong Daogan, the vice mayor and public security chief of Shanghai, was investigated in August after Chen Yixin’s announcement. In October of the same year, Wang Like, a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, fell.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Kou Jianwen, director of the Center for International Relations at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, interpreted Xi Jinping’s decision as an attempt to ensure that the political and legal system, also known as the “knife handle,” would be “cleared and vacated” before the 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022. “This will allow those who rise to power later to benefit from Xi Jinping and reestablish their dependency.
In the past two years, Xi Jinping has continued to strengthen his personal touch in the political and legal system, such as the revision of the People’s Armed Police Law passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress last June. Compared to the old version, the revised version not only erases the role of the State Council, but even mentions that the armed police force “implements the strong military ideology of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China,” among other things. According to Kou Jianwen, Xi’s tight grip on the military and the organization of the public security and other political and legal systems means whether his position can be guaranteed. Despite discontent within the Communist Party, Xi’s control of the “sword” is the key to his power.
Kou Jianwen also mentioned that the Ministry of Public Security was cleansed a long time ago after the fall of Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and that officials who served as ministers and vice-ministers of public security before Xi Jinping came to power have fallen, been transferred or retired, meaning that the current ministers and vice-ministers of public security are “very close to Xi Jinping,” such as the current executive vice-minister of public security Wang Xiaohong, who came from the Fujian region where Xi served, was responsible for defending Xi Jinping.
In addition, yesterday morning, the thirty-first meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress voted to appoint Wang Zhizhong as vice governor of Guangdong Province and director of the Public Security Department, and to remove Li Chunsheng from his position as director of the Provincial Public Security Department.
Wang Zhizhong was the deputy director of the Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. In 2018, the Public Security Guard Force was changed to the Special Duty Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, with Wang Xiaohong, executive vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security, also serving as the director, and Wang Zhizhong became his deputy.
Li Chunsheng, former head of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau, has taken up the position of deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People’s Congress in January this year, a position without real power. We previously reported that Li Chunsheng controlled the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau, which was recently accused of accepting bribes and creating unjust cases for handling the case of Xi Jinping’s daughter’s information leak.
Recent Comments