Hubei high court vice president “hanged himself” authorities say he was chronically ill

Chinese authorities say a senior court official has committed suicide, saying he was chronically ill, and are quick to rule out the case as a criminal one.

The Hubei Province “High People’s Court” announced Tuesday (Oct. 20, 2020) that Zhang Zhongbin, a member of the court’s party committee and vice president, hanged himself in his office a day ago at noon, according to a report published on the official WeChat public number “Hubei High People’s Court. The report said, “It is understood that Zhang Zhongbin was suffering from a disease and had been taking medication for a long time. The public security authorities ruled out a criminal incident through on-site investigation and inquiry.”

Official information shows that Zhang Zhongbin, who was only 53 years old, had been working and rising smoothly through the court system in Hubei province since graduating with a master’s degree in law in 1990, was promoted to vice president of the Hubei High Court in January 2018 and had presided over a meeting on anti-gang trial work last Friday.

China’s Caixin reported the news on the night of Zhang Zhongbin’s death on Monday, citing a source who said he had been approached by provincial leaders that morning and was found dead in his office a few hours later.

Some have speculated that Zhang Zhongbin’s death may be related to his anti-gang trial and his being interviewed by leaders. Authorities’ claims that he had been ill for a long time, and their quick dismissal of the murder as a criminal case, added to the suspicion.

China has seen a number of suicides in the past few years by Communist Party officials who authorities say were suffering from illnesses, including the death of Zheng Xiaosong, head of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macau, who fell from a building in October 2018. Beijing said at the time that he was suffering from depression.

Albert Ho, a veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, has told the Voice of America that Zheng Xiaosong’s alleged suicide is highly suspicious. He said that such incidents reflected the extremely tense political environment in China.