[The Epoch Times, June 29, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Gu Qinger comprehensive report) Xu Bingsong, the former vice chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region of the Communist Party of China, who was released from prison for corruption, recently held a high-profile 81-year-old birthday banquet. Yu Fanglin, the former secretary of the Qinzhou Municipal Party Committee who was released from prison, and other political, business and academic circles attended the ceremony to celebrate his birthday. After the video of the banquet went viral on the Internet, it aroused public criticism.
It is reported that this birthday banquet was held in a hotel in Nanning, Guangxi on June 22, with more than a dozen tables. A related video was circulated on Weibo on the 23rd. In the video, the atmosphere was lively, and Xu Bingsong happily introduced relatives, friends and former colleagues, including serving and retired public officials, who came to celebrate the birthday.
In the video, Xu Bingsong stood on the stage with a microphone and said loudly, “The big things are going to be blocked by people, no matter how many… I want to open up a little bit.” The guests under the stage clapped their hands and applauded.
Xu Bingsong continued to introduce that in addition to relatives and friends attending the banquet, “there are also colleagues who have worked with me in the past and have a very close relationship, but I am worried that too much news will spread and affect everyone.”
Afterwards, Xu Bingsong introduced the guests to the scene one after another. He said that this is his Yulin work partner, and later the secretary of the Qinzhou Municipal Party Committee (Yu Fanglin); this is the deputy secretary-general of the district government, and a former team member, the former secretary of the Yulin Commission for Discipline Inspection, now It was the deputy commissioner of the Liuzhou Administrative Office, the director of the Liuzhou Cultural Bureau, the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi University of Finance and Economics, and the chairman of the X Group… He also mentioned that a commander did not show up because he remembered the wrong time, and everyone who was introduced stood up and waved to everyone. .
Xu Bingsong said that everyone has helped him a lot. “This kind of love cannot be measured by money.”
This matter attracted public attention. On the evening of June 27, the Guangxi Politics and Law Commission officially issued a notice saying that it had investigated the situation involved in the video of a birthday banquet held by a person released after serving his sentence. Criticisms were made against retired public officials who participated in the dinner, and other issues are still being investigated.
In this regard, mainland netizens criticized: “Criticism is over.” “Investigate it back 20 years.” “Corrupt officials are still arrogant when they are released from prison!” Recuperate inside.” “The power of some officials is above the law!” “There are still public servants participating. It is enough to see how powerful this person is and how deep his background is.” “This is the sadness of the entire Chinese society. It is the sorrow of the Chinese judiciary.”
On June 29, current affairs commentator Yue Shan told the Epoch Times reporter that Xu Bingsong, who was in his late 80s, had nothing to blame for his birthday banquet, but corrupt officials were cronies, so once extravagance would inevitably lead to criticism. However, what is of concern is the CCP’s anti-corruption campaign. The more anti-corruption it is, the more corrupt officials are. After being released from prison, corrupt officials remain arrogant, which may indicate that they enjoy privileges in prison. For example, it is often heard that the big tigers such as Bo Xilai in Qincheng Prison enjoy privileges.
Yue Shan believes that some criminals have been commuted from life imprisonment and released from prison. The so-called good performance in the middle cannot be ruled out by helping the authorities to do some dirty work in prison. As for the Political and Legal Committee’s statement that it needs to educate and criticize, it is only on the grounds of violating epidemic prevention. These corrupt officials were originally trained by the CCP authorities and can be taken away or released. Now they are just showing off.
Xu Bingsong graduated from Tsinghua University, and served as the deputy secretary of the Guangxi Yulin Prefectural Committee, the commissioner of the administrative office, and the secretary of the prefectural committee. From January 1993 to 1998, he served as the vice chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
On December 30, 1999, Xu Bingsong was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes. From August 1995 to June 1997, he was accused of making profits for others by writing notes, instructions, direct interfering, etc., and accepting property from others for a total of 550,000 yuan (RMB, the same below) seven times.
Yu Fanglin, the former secretary of the Qinzhou Municipal Party Committee, who attended the banquet, was 70 years old this year. He used to be the secretary of the CPC Guangxi Beiliu County Party Committee, the deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Yulin Regional Administrative Office, the deputy secretary and secretary of the Yulin Prefecture Party Committee, the secretary of the Qinzhou Municipal Party Committee, and the director of the Municipal People’s Congress. In October 2002, he was charged with accepting more than 3.9 million yuan in bribes and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Lu media once reported that Yu Fanglin was spared the death penalty for accusing Cheng Kejie, the former chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China;
In July 2000, Cheng Kejie was sentenced to death. According to the book “Jiang Zemin Who”, the real reason for Cheng Kejie’s execution was to offend Jiang Zemin.
At the same time, many people on the Internet questioned why Xu Bingsong and Yu Fanglin were both sentenced to life imprisonment, why they were released early. In terms of time, Yu Fanglin only served 13 years in prison. As for when Xu Bingsong was released from prison, there is no online search.
Gong Yujian, a Chinese dissident, told Radio Free Asia overseas that even if he is sentenced to life imprisonment in China, as long as he performs well after serving two years in prison, his sentence can generally be commuted to 20 years in prison.
In addition to Xu Bingsong, Zhou Zhengyi, the former richest man in Shanghai who was released from prison in 2020, also held a high-profile birthday party, causing a storm of public opinion.
On April 18, 2021, Zhou Zhengyi held a 60th birthday banquet at the Wanda Reign Hotel, a five-star hotel on the Bund in Shanghai, and typed the words “Don’t forget your original heart, return to your true colors”, and invited celebrities to attend, including Shanghai Broadcasting Corporation. The six hosts of the TV station collectively came to the stage to cheer for Zhou Zhengyi.
After the incident came to light, it caused a public outcry. Subsequently, the six hosts mentioned above were suspended. Zhou Zhengyi is the pawn of the former leader of the Communist Party of China Jiang Zemin’s family. He was once famous in Shanghai.
Responsible editor: Li Muen#