[The Epoch Times, June 9, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Yi Fan interviewed and reported) In a few days, several senior CCP provincial and ministerial officials were investigated and punished. Some analysts believe that not all of the fallen officials were targeted by Xi Jinping’s faction, highlighting the fierce infighting within the CCP before the “Twenty National Congress”.
On June 1, Chen Rugui, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, was announced to be sacked. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in the briefing that Chen Rugui was “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” and was undergoing “disciplinary review and supervision investigation.”
Chen Rugui, who was born in 1962, never left Guangdong in his official career. According to public information, Chen Rugui has served successively as member of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, Secretary General, Deputy Mayor, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee; Secretary of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress; since July 2017, he has served as Deputy Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Municipal Committee. In April 2021, he will be the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress.
Political commentator Chen Pokong believes that Shenzhen is of great significance to the CCP. As China’s first special economic zone, Shenzhen is close to Hong Kong, so it is “a battleground for military strategists”. Chen Rugui was appointed as the mayor of Shenzhen in 2017, when Xi Jinping’s power reached its peak, which shows that Chen Rugui must be someone Xi’s trustworthy, “not the Xi’s army but also the prospective Xi’s army.”
Another official who held a high position at the height of Xi Jinping’s power has also been investigated in recent days. On May 31, Zhang Jinghua, the former deputy secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, was put on file for review and was expelled from the party and public office at the same time. He was sacked last December.
Zhang Jinghua was also born in 1962 and has been working in Jiangsu for a long time. Since July 2009, he has served successively as Deputy Secretary and Mayor of Xuzhou Municipal Committee; Secretary of Zhenjiang Municipal Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; Member of the Party Leadership Group, Secretary General and Vice Governor of Jiangsu Provincial Government; in July 2017, Zhang Jinghua was appointed as Jiangsu Province. Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Committee and Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee; after 2021, he will serve as the deputy secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the deputy secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Group.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection listed Zhang Jinghua’s crimes in the circular as: deliberately resisting censorship, engaging in superstitious activities; accepting gifts and gifts; seeking benefits in the selection and appointment of officials; falsifying economic data for personal progress, interfering in market economic activities in violation of regulations; Money transactions, receiving huge sums of money.
The fourth article is extremely rare, “Falsifying economic data, interfering in market economic activities in violation of regulations.” Chen Pokong analyzed and recognized that this crime is the first time that this crime has appeared in the CCP officialdom, and this is definitely not the language of Xi’s army, because. The Xi Jinping faction advocates that the party manages the economy, while the Li Keqiang faction advocates the market economy.
Li Keqiang has always opposed falsification of economic data. According to U.S. diplomatic cables disclosed by WikiLeaks, as early as 2007, when Li Keqiang was the secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, he mentioned to the U.S. ambassador to China Clark T. Randt Jr. at a dinner that China’s GDP figures is “artificial” and therefore unreliable.
Recently, a number of provincial and ministerial-level officials have been investigated and punished. Within three days from May 31 to June 2, Sun Guoxiang, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress, was sacked; Zhang Bencai, chief prosecutor of the Shanghai Municipal Procuratorate; Sentenced to death with reprieve; Li Zefeng, former vice-chairman of the CPPCC Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was sentenced to one-year probation in the party and dismissal from government affairs.
In response, independent writer Zhuge Mingyang told The Epoch Times, “Corruption is one of the characteristics of the CCP, so cracking down on corruption is just an excuse to crack down on political enemies. The recent investigation of some members of the Xi family’s army highlights the internal struggles within the CCP before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party. intense.”
Responsible editor: Lian Shuhua#